These Paths Must Cross
by BeckyAsABoy
Summary: Forced to relocate, Sora and Roxas Strife must learn to navigate a new home. This is...not a good summary...but there's gonna be lots of romance and drama and... I'm really bad at summaries, but you should read this anyway if you come across it because it really isn't as bad as this summary. Hmm Rated M just in case. Akuroku Soriku other possible pairings. Language, Drugs, Etc...
1. The Big Move

"Boys!" Cloud Strife yelled up the stairs. "It's time to go." Cloud headed away from the landing and toward the door. He was carrying a large box labeled linens out of the house. In the driveway there was a U-Haul connected to the family SUV. He loaded the box into the trailer and shut the door; it was the last of the boxes to be loaded. Cloud wiped beads of sweat from his brow. The last few hours were exhausting, as he filled the trailer almost completely without help.

He had expected his sons to put in some legwork, but he wasn't surprised they had not, nor, he decided, was he very upset about it. The move was tough on the two boys, especially Roxas, who had been holed up in his room for most of the morning. When the boys were first warned of the move, Sora had thrown a tantrum, screamed at his father about fairness, and broken the closest items he could find.

"Sora, I'm sorry, but you need to calm down." Cloud said, standing up to try to restrain his eldest. "I don't want to do this anymore than you do."

"Then why do we have to move!?" Sora cried out, as he wriggled away from his father and lashed out against the items on their mantle. Some knickknacks were broken on the floor, but most grievously was a picture frame shattered, shards of glass tearing into the photograph.

"Sora! What did you do?" Roxas rushed to the photo in tears. The faces were scratched and obscured. "It's ruined." He dropped the picture and tackled his brother. "Why would you do that?" He said as he started hitting Sora against the chest. "That was the last one."

"Roxas, stop." Cloud pulled the young boy off Sora and carried him to the other side of the room. He held the boy into his chest and shushed the boy, trying to calm him down. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this as a family." He looked to his son, who was wiping his face of tears, but was still seething. "As a family."

"No." Sora barked. "I'm leaving." He ran out the door, leaving his father and brother to themselves.

Cloud sighed. He wanted to chase after him, but Sora was not a child. He was smart, and he would be safe for a while. "Roxas, are you going to be okay."

He sniffled. "Why-why-why...?" He could not finish the sentence between staccato sobs. "Why-why..." He could not hold in his crying.

"I tried, son." Cloud said frowning. A forlorn look crossed his face. "Ever since your mom passed, I've been trying to juggle raising you two and keeping up with my career, but it's been hard. I'm sorry that I couldn't do it." Cloud felt his son's arms squeeze him. "The firm has been noting my lack of focus, and my performance has been sliding. After talking to my bosses, they graciously agreed to give me a second chance, and they're letting me transfer to the site in Twilight Town. That way, we can move in with your Aunt Yuffie and Cousin Xion. It's not ideal, but Yuffie has a large house that can accommodate all of us."

"We're moving to Twilight Town?" Roxas calmed down just enough to speak, but now he was upset. "That's worlds away; I'll never see my friends. I thought we were just gonna leave this house, but I can't believe you're taking me away from everything. Taking us from our lives."

"Roxas..." He started but the boy pulled away. "Roxas." The boy shook his head and ran upstairs to his room. Cloud lowered his head and rubbed his temples. "They'll come around." He told himself, hoping that if the words were out there, they would come true. He rose to his feet and grabbed his keys, so he could go in search of his son.

"Yeah, Dad." Sora answered. "We'll be right down." Sora stood outside Roxas' locked door. "Buddy, it's time to go."

"I'm not leaving." Roxas yelled. "This is my home and you can't make me leave." Sora sighed. He felt sorry for his brother. Sora himself had been a wreck at the announcement, but after some time to reflect and calm down, he was excited. He would miss his friends on the island, but he had friends in Twilight Town he had not seen in years. Roxas did not have that though, and he knew his brother was taking this incredibly hard.

Sora did not really know how to coerce his brother out of his room.

"Sora!" Cloud yelled out of his window as he slowly drove around the residential area. "Sora!" He had driven several blocks with no sign of the brunet. He didn't think he could have gotten far, but Cloud decided to drive towards the lesser island where Roxas and Sora often played with their friends. He left his car and shouted his son's name a few more times, as he made his way over to the small island.

Sora sat at the beach's edge. He had taken his shoes off, and the tide came up just enough to wet his toes. He had wrapped his arms around his legs and took in the sunset. He could not believe he would be leaving this beautiful seascape behind. He sensed a presence at his side. His father stood, knees to shoulder, and stared out at the horizon. "It's breath-taking, Sora."

"You want to take it away from us." Sora spat at his father. Cloud bent down on one knee to get to Sora's level. Sora snapped his head away from Cloud. "Haven't we lost enough?"

Cloud could feel his heart break. "Sora, please. I would not want anything more than to stay here."

"Then why can't we?!" Sora begged looking into his father's eyes, his own ocean blue eyes flooding. "I don't want to leave."

Cloud placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Sora..." He started, sighed, and continued. "Finances are not something that adults usually talk about with their own children. I never want to discuss munny with you or your brother, I never want you to have to worry about it, but you're old enough, so I can trust you. I need you to keep this between us, because I don't want Roxas to worry, he's been through a lot. We all have, and more burden...I don't think he could handle it. But you're strong, Sora. You can be a rock. I lost my job."

Sora's eyes went big. "What? How?"

"Ever since your mother, I've just been unable to perform at work, and they let me go. At first, my superiors understood, they knew I was going through a rough patch, but months passed, and I just couldn't do it anymore." Cloud explained.

"Are you broke? Are we poor? What's going to happen?" Sora asked, panicked.

"Now now, calm down Sora, everything is fine." Cloud said. "We are going to be living with Aunt Yuffie. She has a large home and she doesn't rent, so it's stable. Twilight Town is a booming city. I'll find work there. But between you and me, I have a job. Roxas thinks I will be working for my old firm, I just don't need him worrying. I'm so sorry, Sora. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen."

Sora gave a hopeful smile. "It'll be okay. Right dad? Just like you said." Sora hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry I threw a fit. It's just...hormones." He laughed. "I'm gonna miss this place, but I knew I didn't want to be here forever. I'm gonna be okay, Dad. I'm just hoping Roxas will have such an easy change of heart.

"Roxas, please come out." Sora banged on what was once the door of his brother's room. "You need to come out Roxas, we're leaving. Dad's got the U-Haul all packed up. With no help from you." He muttered the last sentence to himself.

"I'm not leaving!" Roxas screamed. "You can't make me." it had been three weeks since the announcement and Roxas had only gotten more hostile towards the situation. "This is my home."

Sora wanted to be able to show Roxas the bright side, any silver linings, but he couldn't find any. So he tried a last ditch effort to tug at Roxas' conscience. "It's not ours anymore, Roxas." He wavered his voice to evoke sadness. "The house has been sold. We need to leave. We are leaving. "Sora sighed."I'm going to miss you."

"What?" Roxas said through the door.

"I can't make you leave, and dad's too tired to fight with you. You can stay. I don't know if you'll be able to stay when the new family moves in. You might be able to stay with Selphie, Wakka, or Tidus, but their parents probably don't have any interest in raising another kid. I guess this is goodbye then, Rox. I'm gonna miss you." Sora said as he descended the stairs.

"This is a joke, right." Roxas said. He didn't get a response. "Sora, this isn't funny." Roxas opened the door, and nobody was there. "Sora!" He rushed down the stairs and out the door, to see them pull out of the driveway.

They stopped before shifting into drive. Sora and Cloud waved and smiled. "We love you, Roxas." Sora shouted. Cloud let off the brake and the SUV crept forward. Roxas dashed for the back door. "Oh, Roxas, did you want to say good bye?"

"I can't believe you two." Roxas crossed his arms in a huff. "You two were gonna abandon me?" He entered the back seat.

"Of course not, Rox." Sora said. "We wanted you to be happy, and you wanted to stay here. So we were going to let you. It's what you wanted."

"No it's not." Roxas cried. "I want to be with my family. Even if it's hundreds of miles away." Roxas rested his head against the cool glass. "Just wake me up when we get to Aunt Yuffie's; I'm still not ready for this."

"It's okay, kiddo. Take your time. It's a big change for all of us." Cloud reassured his son. Most of the drive was spent wordless between the three. Cloud focused on the drive. He wanted to get to Twilight Town by the next day's night, so the only stops he made were for gas, coffee and fast food. He could sleep when he got to his sister-in-laws.

Sora spent most of the car ride on his phone. Two of his best friends, Riku and Kairi, had left for Twilight Town a few years ago, only a few months apart, because their parents had found better work there. They were the biggest reason for Sora's turnaround to excitement for moving, beyond his dad's talk to him on the beach. The three had been texting almost non-stop since Sora found out he was moving. They were planning a get together, Kairi and Riku agreed to show him around the town.

 _ **Group Message**_

 _ **8/5/2015 11:53**_

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _We just left. Dad thinks we should be there by tomorrow night._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _OMG! So excited. :D_

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _She's not kidding. She just knocked me over when she jumped up._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _Can you blame me? :p_

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _I suppose not._

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _I'm excited to see you all. Not so much for the road trip. Rox is still pissy._

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _He'll come around. Eventually._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _We'll make sure he's okay. My cousin Naminé lives with us. She just moved in after school ended. She's been kind of a loner. This could be good for both of them. :)_

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _Agreed_

Roxas was sitting in the back seat, head against the window, watching the familiar scenery flash by. He wanted to sleep, but there was so much time left. In his pocket, his pocket started to vibrate. He wanted to ignore it. It vibrated again. Again. Again. Again. He was finding it harder to ignore. Again. Again. Again. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and threw it to the other side of the back seat.

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight.

"Roxas!" Cloud cried out. "Answer your phone." Roxas sighed and leaned across the car to retrieve his phone. He hit ignore and went back to his window to watch the last of the familiar landscape fade away.

Simple and clean is the way...

Roxas pressed ignore again, ending the ringtone. He looked out the window one last time before they entered the tunnel that connected Destiny Islands to the mainland. It felt so final. He really was leaving home.

In you and I, there's a new land.

Roxas sighed and let the song play a little bit before hitting accept.

"Hi." Roxas answered tersely.

"Oh, you made a mistake, man." Wakka replied. Roxas heard loud yelling in the background. "You're in for it, ya."

The noise got louder as it approached the mouthpiece of Wakka's phone. "Believe he answered your call. Roxas!" Selphie yelled. "I can't believe you ignore my texts and calls and then answer for Wakka!"

"Sorry, Selphie." Roxas muttered. "I really didn't want to talk to anyone."

"Why? Are you going to ignore us now?" Roxas could hear the hurt in her voice. "We all came to your house, but it was too late. Why didn't you say goodbye?"

"I'm sorry, to all of you, but it would have been too hard to say goodbye. Sora and Dad had to fake abandon me just to get me in the car. I don't think I would have gone if I had to see you all."

"When will we see you again?" Selphie asked.

"I wish I knew." Roxas said. "I can't imagine that I'll have a reason to come back." The words were wrong, but it was too late. "That's not what..."

"Go to hell." Selphie cried. "Here Wakka. Roxas is a jerk." She threw the phone at Wakka.

"What'd you say?" Wakka asked.

"I didn't. It was just said wrong. I said I don't have a reason to come back to the island, but I didn't mean it that way." Roxas explained. "I meant that I don't have a way back myself, and my dad isn't going to be bringing us back. Maybe he can fly me out, but of course I would want to see you all."

"I'll try and get Selphie to calm down, ya." Wakka said. "If it's any consolation, she won't be bugging you for a while, ya."

"Silver linings." Roxas retorted. "Can I talk to you later, after I get settled in at Twilight Town?"

"Sure thing. I'll say hi to Tidus for you."

"Thanks." Roxas replied, a smile forming in the corner of his mouth, but it was fleeting. "Bye."

Roxas then decided to do what he should have done in the first place and shut his phone off. He returned it to his pocket and splayed out in the back seat.

"How's the gang?" Sora asked, looking back to his brother.

"Meh. Fine. I don't know." Roxas muttered. His face was away from Sora. "Selphie's mad I answered Wakka. Not that it matters. I know we're gonna drift apart."

"Don't say that! I kept in touch with Riku and Kairi for years. You're going to see them again." Sora was worrying that Roxas was going to sink into a deep depression.

 _ **8/5/2015 12:34**_

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _I need you two to do me a huge favor. I know it's short notice, but there needs to be something huge. Kairi, get a hold of Aunt Yuffie. I don't think there's any welcoming party, but we need one badly._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _:D Of course. Auntie will be more than happy to help I'm sure._

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _Why badly?_

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _Roxas is in a funk. So we need a big thing with lots of people that Roxas can meet. He needs friends._

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _Why didn't we think of this sooner?_

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _I didn't think of him. Just me, and I have you two, I don't need to meet others._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _We all could have thought of this, we all knew it was gonna be tough on him. Poor Roxas :'(_

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _We can get all our friends together. It'll be a blast._

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _And a big surprise. Thanks guys._

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _:)))) Yeah! There's a lot to do. We'll keep you posted. I gotta call auntie._

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ _We'll text you later when we know more, Sora._

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _You two are the best._

Roxas tried his best to get comfortable, but the tight space had made it difficult. He managed to hold a position just long enough to drift asleep, but his dreams were fuel for his body to toss and turn in the confines of the seat.

 **bad dog bad dog get out of here bad**

 **dog we do not want you**

 **anymore you bad dog go away go away go away leave scurry flee whimper whimper whimper bad dog bad dog all**

 **alone alone alone abandoned thunder**

 **lightning rain wet dog bad dog cold dog cry dog hide cower whine**

 **lost dog no reward lost dog all alone no home anymore left outside abandoned gone dog bad dog cry dog whine dog**

 **why don't they want me**

 **bad dog bad dog all alone mama's gone bad dog bad dog bad dog**

 **why did they leave me**

Roxas woke up with a jolt, which caused him to fall out of the seat. This had coincided with Cloud stopping to refuel, so he was able to get out of the car and stretch his legs. He followed Sora into the gas station to pick up a snack.

"Don't be long in there!" Cloud called from the pump. "I want to be to Traverse Town by nightfall." He wasn't really worried. He either overestimated the length of the trip or underestimated his speed. Traverse Town was only 300 miles from Twilight Town so even if they stayed the night there, they would still make it to Twilight mid afternoon, which would be more conducive to unpacking than dawn anyway.

"How long was I asleep for?" Roxas asked his brother as he pulled a soda from the cooler.

"Awhile. Didn't seem very peaceful. You moved a lot. Talked in your sleep." Sora put his arm around his brother's shoulders. "You feeling okay?"

Roxas shrugged, loosening Sora's grip. "Yeah, I guess. He twisted the cap off the Coke and took a swallow. "Pay for this, yeah." He said, flashing a grin and left the store.

Sora rolled his eyes, but was happy to see Roxas acting a bit normal. He brought a couple sodas and a couple packs of candies, M&M's for him, Reese's for his father, and Skittles for Roxas, to the clerk. "All this, plus the soda he ran out with and the gas on pump 3."

"$68.89." The clerk stated. "Where you guys headed?"

"Twilight Town." Sora answered. "Is that far from here?"

"500 miles, give or take. Where ya from?"

"Destiny Islands."

"Pretty place. Well have a safe trip."

"Thanks mister." Sora said, grabbing the purchase and exiting the store. People were nice out here. He feared that the growing urban of Twilight Town may foster less than kind people. Nothing like Destiny Islands. But he had Riku and Kairi, and his family. No worries, he reassured himself.

 _ **8/5/2015 17:48**_

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ _Everything is set. :) Auntie loved the idea; she may have gone a bit overboard. She bought so much food. Riku got a hold of some kids. I did too. Lots of people will be there. It'll be good for you both._

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ _Perfect! Hopefully this will get Roxas out of his head._

Kairi must have been busy with plans, because she did not text Sora for the rest of the day. It was an uneventful drive to Traverse Town. Sora played some games on his phone, but grew bored and tired and not long after had drifted off into a peaceful sleep, not to wake up until they stopped again.

Roxas sat in the front seat this time, figuring that he did not want to sleep again, and Sora would want to lie down. He knew he did not want to sleep. His dream was odd. Disjointed. Unsettling. He worried that he really was going to end up like a lost puppy, without anybody. In spite of the feeling of loneliness, or in tandem with, he did not turn on his phone. He assumed there would be hundreds of texts from Selphie, and some from Tidus and Wakka, trying to get his attention. And the only thing worse than finding out his friends had been desperately trying to reach him and he was just ignoring them, was to find out that they had not been.

He popped some Skittles in his mouth. It was a thoughtful gesture of Sora to think of him. He was envious of that. Sora always thought about others, especially Roxas, and Roxas felt that he himself was aloof in concerns to others feelings; the phone left off was case in point.

As he finished off the candy, he realized that he should probably get back to his friends. He reached into his phone and powered it on. The familiar chime and greeting were the prelude to a cacophony of notification tones as message after message after message started showing up on his phone. Roxas was overwhelmed, and quickly shut the phone back off and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Everything okay, Roxas?" Cloud asked, glancing to his son before resetting his gaze to the road.

"Yeah, no, everything is fine." He lied. "Selphie's just blowing up my phone and I don't have the time to look through the messages."

Cloud would have remarked on that; Roxas was trapped in a car for several more hours, so he had nothing but time. However, he knew Roxas was having some difficulties and he did not want to press any buttons. "Ahh." Was all he managed to say.

They arrived in Traverse Town late that evening. The city was bright and bustling with people coming and going. "Do you think you want to stay in a hotel tonight?" Cloud asked Roxas.

"I don't care." Roxas replied, looking around the city. "I'm not tired right now, and I'm sure Sora won't be if we wake him up now."

"We can keep going if you want." Cloud said.

"Maybe Sora can drive a bit so you can sleep some." Roxas said. "Sora, wake up."

"Wazzit?" Sora asked. He yawned big and stretched out his limbs. "Where're we?"

"Traverse Town," Cloud answered, "Do you want to stay in a hotel tonight?"

"Doesn't matter to me. If you need to sleep, Dad." Sora replied.

"I thought maybe you could drive, and Dad can sleep in the back." Roxas answered.

"I could do that. Plus it'd be cheaper, and we'd get to Twilight Town sooner." Sora said.

Cloud nodded. "Alright, I trust you two to stay alert then. And you'll have to wake me up if you need anything. It's a straight shot from here to there, so it shouldn't be too difficult."

Sora beamed. He did not get to drive often. "Great." Cloud pulled over and they switched positions. Sora drove a few miles, once they got onto the main road, Cloud felt sure of his son and relaxed into sleep. Knowing Roxas would be easier to talk to without his dad listening, he started, "How're you feeling, Rox?"

"Fine." Roxas answered tersely. "I mean..." He trailed off as he tried to gather his thoughts. "The gang back home is mad at me, I know. I'm ignoring them; I just don't know what to say. I'm scared I won't have anybody."

"Oh come on. You have me. Dad, Xion, Yuffie. You'll make friends. You know Riku and Kairi. They know people. You won't be alone." Sora smiled at his brother, who reciprocated, though not as bright as Sora.

"If you say so." His smile faded. "I think I just need...time." He whispered the last word.

"Need what?" Sora asked trying to focus on the road and his brother.

"Nothing. Like you said, I've got you. I'll be fine." Roxas tried not to think of anything. The rest of the trip was smooth, but silent. Roxas turned on some music to cut into it, putting in his favorite CD, a few songs by a small garage band called Dearly Beloved that Wakka turned him onto. The music was relaxing and the singer's dulcet tones lulled him into a slumber.

By the time they entered the town, Cloud had woken up and called Yuffie. "I know it's almost four in the morning, but we're almost there."

"Oh." Yuffie said, half awake. "I didn't think you'd be here yet. But maybe that'll work better for the party. You'll be all settled in, and able to get some rest."

"What party?" Cloud asked. Sora, hearing this, nearly slammed on the brakes. He quickly turned his head to see his brother sleeping. Sora breathed a sigh of relief. He and his father made eye contact in the rearview mirror. Sora shushed him, pointing at Roxas indicating that it was supposed to be a surprise.

"I hope that Roxas didn't hear that. It's supposed to be a surprise for him." Yuffie said. She yawned and headed toward her kitchen to fix some coffee. "Well I'll be ready to receive you all. See you soon."

"Bye." Cloud said, ending the call. "What..."

"Dad!" Sora said. He looked over at the still sleeping Roxas and quickly, quietly said. "Riku, Kairi, and I are getting people together so Roxas can meet people. But it's secret." Cloud nodded.

They arrived at their new home, where not only Yuffie and Xion were waiting for them, but Riku and Kairi were as well. "Sora!" Kairi shouted as he exited the car. She and Riku both ran up to Sora to greet him. "I'm so excited!"

"What are you two doing here so early?" Sora asked as Kairi attacked him in a hug.

"We stayed here; we wanted to be here first thing when you got here." Riku answered.

"Perfect, you can help unpack." Cloud said, patting Riku on the shoulder. The three laughed. "Not a joke. More hands, less work." They nodded and headed to the trailer. He headed over to Yuffie. "I can't begin to..."

She cut him off. "And you don't have to. My house is yours. All of yours. I know it's a change. If you need anything at all." Yuffie looked to Sora and Roxas, both with boxes in hand. She smiled. "Welcome home."

A/N: I'm reposting a bunch of stories, most unfinished that I intend to finish. If you like it leave a review and or follow


	2. The Big Party

A/N: I don't have much of anything to say right now, but any of you who are reading, thanks. Follow and/or review if you'd like. And Sora23ish, yes, that's all you needed to say. :D

Roxas blinked open his eyes. He guessed it to be about noon. Sun filtered in through the window and shone down on him. He stretched, and looked around. His room was huge. Twice the size of his room back home, which was necessary because in the bed next to him was Sora softly snoring. Roxas wasn't sure how he felt about sharing a bedroom. He liked his privacy.

Roxas got up and walked into the en suite. At least they got their own bathroom too. He relieved himself and washed up. He entered the bedroom where Sora was still sleeping. He dug through some boxes left to be unpacked looking for something to wear. He pulled on a plain white tee and a pair of light blue board shorts.

He headed downstairs where he heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen. "Xion, take Roxas around town so we can get the party set up. We want it to be a surprise still." Yuffie said.

Xion nodded. "Yes, mum." She heard footsteps and turned to the stairs, where Roxas appeared. "Morning!" Xion smiled.

"Did you sleep well?" Yuffie asked. "Your father and brother are still sleeping."

"Yeah, it was fine. The bed is really comfortable. Like sleeping on a cloud." Roxas replied. "What were you two whispering about?"

Yuffie glanced over to her daughter, and then reaffixed her gaze. "Nothing, Roxas."

"Just ideas for where we should go today." Xion answered. "We figured that Sora has Kairi and Riku, so he'll be fine. I can take you around the town. Show you the best places to go."

"Sure, that could be fun." Roxas said. "No Sora?"

"I think we should let him sleep." Xion replied. She bounded over to her cousin and grabbed his hand. "Come on, there's a lot to see." Xion dragged Roxas along with her and went off to Market Street.

"This is the main street of town." Xion explained after walking a few blocks. "You'll find most anything you need here. Most everything fun to do in town, shops, restaurants, and theaters are going to be on this street. Anywhere you want to go first?"

"Some food would be nice." Roxas said just as his stomach was growling.

"Pizza Planet is a favorite stop. Great pizza and amazing ice cream." Xion said. "Did they have sea salt ice cream on Destiny Island?" Roxas shook his head. "You've gotta try it. We'll grab a slice and an ice cream bar." They walked into the pizza parlor. Three-eyed green aliens made up a large amount of the decor. "Hey, Pence!" Xion waved at her friend who was standing behind the counter.

He waved back. "Hey Xion. Shouldn't you be getting ready for the p-"

"Pizza?" She said, interrupting him. "Yes I am definitely ready for the pizza." The interruption, however, was unnecessary, as Roxas had made his way over to a crane game. "It's a surprise for him. So don't mention it."

"Sorry. What are you guys getting?" Pence asked.

"Couple of slices and a couple of sea salt ice cream bars, please" Xion answered.

"I know you want cheese." Pence said. "What about him?"

"Roxas," she called out to the boy, "what kind of pizza do you want?"

He raised a finger, asking her to hold on. He had just latched onto a stuffed alien with the crane and it dropped into the prize chute. He took the toy and hurried over to Xion. "Do you have pineapple?"

"Yep." Pence answered.

"Anchovies?"

"Uh, yeah." Pence slowly answered. "You want..."

"Both, yeah. Is that weird?" Roxas asked, looking at Xion.

"Well the anchovies are gross by themselves." Xion said.

"You're a vegetarian, of course you think that." Pence said. Xion rolled her eyes.

"Besides that, they're slimy and salty and bleh." Xion said.

"I like them together. The flavors contrast, and it reminds me of home. My friends back home wouldn't think it weird." Roxas frowned.

"Okay, it'll just be a sec for those." Pence said, heading to the back.

"So you're a veggie?" Roxas asked.

Xion rolled her eyes again. "Yes, but it's not a political statement. I just don't eat meat."

"Okay okay, don't get defensive." Roxas said

"I'm not." She snapped. "Okay, a little, but everyone who finds out about it always harasses me with stupid questions about it. I get enough protein. I don't care if anyone else eats meat. I just don't see why one aspect of me should be so heavily scrutinized when it doesn't affect anybody else. Do you ever feel that way?"

Roxas gulped and furrowed his brow. "Uh...no...why?"

Xion shrugged. "Maybe people are more open-minded on the island."

Roxas laughed. "Yeah, maybe. Oh, here's the pizza." He was happy for a reason to not have to speak.

"Thanks, Pence." Xion said.

"No problem. You know, you never introduced us." Pence said. "I'm Pence."

Roxas stared up at him with wide eyes and a mouth full of pizza. "His name's Roxas" Xion answered for him.

He swallowed the food in his mouth and smiled. "Nice to meet you." He quickly said before stuffing more food in his mouth. "Boy, was I hungry." He said after finishing off the slice. "You haven't even started yet."

"I can get you the ice cream Xion ordered." Pence said, heading back behind the counter. "If you like salty and sweet, this should be right up your alley." He said, handing him the bar. "I'm going to get back to work before my boss comes out of the office and flips out on me, but I'll see you two at..." A murderous glance from Xion gave Pence pause. "Later, see you later."

"He seems nice." Roxas said, giving his ice cream a lick. "And he's right, I do like this."

Xion finished her pizza and led them out of the parlor. "Where to next?" Roxas shrugged. "Okay, let's just walk around." She took a bite of her ice cream. "You know, we don't know much about each other. We've only met like twice."

"Yeah, we lived so far away, and you guys didn't stay long for the funeral." Roxas said, looking forlorn.

"No. I think Mom felt odd. It wasn't really her family, without dad, she felt like an outsider." Xion frowned. "He wasn't there, thankfully."

"You haven't seen your dad much?" Roxas asked.

"Not since he left. Five years now, give or take." Xion said. "It's fine though. Mom's great. I don't need anybody else." She smiled. "Plus now there are you, Sora, and Uncle Cloud. We're like a big family." Roxas smiled back at her. He took a bite of his ice cream when Xion asked, "Did you have a girlfriend back home?"

Roxas nearly choked on his ice cream, and ended up spitting most of it out onto the street. "Uh, no. I mean, Selphie's a girl who was my friend. A friend girl, not a girlfriend."

"Just asking." She giggled. "You turned awfully red, Roxas."

"What about you?" Roxas asked.

Xion held a pensive look. "No, no girlfriends for me. Olette is kind of cute I guess, but I don't think I'm her type." They both chuckled. "Maybe she'd like you."

"I just got here; I don't need to find a girlfriend right away." He finished the ice cream bar. "Honestly, I don't know if I want to even find friends right away."

Xion blanched. "What?"

"I don't know, this has been fun, but I just kind of want to head back to the house and lay low." Roxas said, turning back toward the residences. "There's gonna be time to meet people at school and stuff. Right?"

"I-I-I guess..." She started. "But...but it'll still be fun to meet people."

"Of course it will, but maybe not so fast. Gotta get settled in." Roxas said. "Come on, let's race."

Xion panicked. "O-ok." She quickly whipped out her phone and texted her mom. "I'll catch up."

"No. Come on. I'll give you a head start." Roxas said. "It'll be fun."

"You're probably faster. Let's just say you win." Xion said, trying to stall for time.

Roxas frowned. "Whatever, I'll meet you back there." He said, and took off like a bolt.

"Dammit." Xion thought, and called Yuffie. "There's a problem. I don't think he's going to be thrilled about a bunch of people at a party that's sort of supposed to be for him."

"Everything's already set up. There's even going to be a band. A lot of work has gone into this little thing. He'll enjoy himself." Yuffie said.

"He's not going to." Xion sighed. "Unless he has a change of heart." She hung up the phone and tried to catch up to the blond.

Roxas realized Xion was far behind him and slowed down just as he arrived in front of the house. He walked up to the front steps, admiring the well-manicured lawn, the azalea bushes along the path, and the simple elegance of the house. It was so much grander than his old house. He turned and looked around. He realized that all the houses looked the same, true suburbia.

He wasn't ready to be a part of this world. Tranquil seas and white sand beaches could never be replaced by the cookie cutter neighborhood. He let out a sigh as he headed to the house again.

"ROXAS!" Xion screamed, running towards her cousin. He stopped and looked as Xion came up to him quickly. "Don't. Go. In." She spoke, pausing to breathe between each word. She gathered herself, and let out a long sigh. "Don't go in." She repeated.

"Why?" Roxas asked slowly. "What's going on?"

"So, look we all thought it would be a good idea, and maybe we didn't think it through, but Sora and Riku and Kairi and my mom put a party together and there are a bunch of people inside, and there's going to be more coming, because we thought it would be a good idea to get you introduced to some people and make friends." She said this really fast and had to stop for breath again.

"Why?" Roxas asked again.

"We thought it would be a good idea." Xion replied sheepishly. She stared down, worried about making eye contact. "Sora felt like you would want to meet new people."

"I don't know what to say." Xion looked up, hopeful that those words were meant in the best way possible, but she looked into Roxas' frowning face. "What were you all thinking?" Roxas ran into the house, Xion followed on his heels

"Roxas, wait." Xion called after him. Everybody stopped what they were doing and watched Roxas race up the stairs. The sound of a door slamming had halted the conversation. Xion went over to where Sora and some of the others had gathered. "You should go talk to him." She told him. "He's upset."

Sora groaned. "He's always upset. Nothing is going to make him happy right now. Eventually he'll come down, just let him settle." Xion opened her mouth to say something, but Sora put up his hand to stop her. "I know my brother. He'll come down when he's ready."

"Wasn't this supposed to be about getting Roxas some friends?" Xion asked.

"Look around, nobody he doesn't know is here except for Naminé. By the time this party is going, he'll be down here and having fun." Sora replied.

"Speaking of, where is Naminé?" Kairi asked.

A light knocking at the door was ignored. Roxas slipped headphones over his ears and put on music. He glanced at the doorknob, locked, but someone was trying to open it. "Go away." Roxas shouted. He closed his eyes to focus on the music and was oblivious to the door opening.

Naminé stood in the doorway for a moment, watching the boy moving his hands to the beat. She slowly made her way to Sora's bed, and sat near the head. "Roxas," she whispered. He didn't reply. She couldn't decide if she just wanted to sit there and look at him, she thought he was a bit cute, or if she actually wanted to engage him.

Her thoughts were cut short as Roxas sat up to stretch his arms. He opened his eyes to find Naminé watching him and he yelped in surprise, falling off the side of the bed. Questions raced through his mind. "Who are...why...how did you get in?"

She twirled a bobby pin in her fingers and used it to pull back her hair. "It's not a complex keyhole. Just have to push the lock open from the other side. Sorry I scared you though." Naminé giggled. "My name is Naminé, I'm Kairi's cousin. I saw you run off and nobody went after you. "

"Yeah, they knew I wanted to be alone." Roxas snapped getting back onto the bed. He shooed her out with his hand. "You can go now."

"I want to be alone too. Kairi wanted me to come to meet new people. I just moved to Twilight Town too." Naminé said. "Can I hide out with you?"

Roxas shrugged his shoulders and put his headphones back on. "Whatever."

"Great." She walked back to the door and locked it. From a pocket in her dress, she removed a small drawing pad and pen. She sat on the edge of Sora's bed and watched as Roxas went back to his reverie. He didn't notice her watching him, drawing him.

He did notice the air shift as the door closed again at Naminé's leave. He looked over to the now empty bed and saw a slip of paper. He pulled his headphones off and he went over to look at it. He was surprised how quickly Naminé had been able to sketch such a detailed drawing of him. He turned it over to see a note scrawled out:

 _Roxas - You should come down. Even just for a moment. If it's the worst thing ever, you can go. But there is so much time to be alone._

He sighed. He opened the door. To his surprise, his favorite song was being played. "Sora's really trying to make this appeal to me." Roxas thought as he descended the staircase. He headed towards Xion and Naminé who were eating some snacks in the kitchen. He placed the sketch on the center island. "I came down."

Naminé smiled and Xion grabbed the paper. "Nami, you drew this?" She gushed over it. "It's so good."

Her cheeks became pink in blush. "Oh, thanks Xion. I draw a lot. It takes my mind off things. Keeps me busy. I can show you some drawings I have some time, if you'd like." Xion enthusiastically nodded.

Roxas grabbed an hors d'oeuvre. "Where is everyone?"

"Most of them are in the living room listening to the music." Xion responded. "We just came in here to grab a quick bite."

"Just listening to music?"

"Well and watching the band?" Xion added.

Roxas' eyes grew wide and he felt his chest tighten as the idea that his favorite band was in the room next door. "The band?"

"They're called hmm..." Xion thought. "I forget."

"Dearly Beloved." Naminé finished for her. "The band members are students at the school we're going to."

Roxas was just short of going into shock as he heard the music stop and he could clearly hear the voice of the lead singer. "We're gonna take a break, if that's okay. Enjoy the party and stuff." The sounds of voices starting to converse filled the air. Roxas went into the living room to join the party. The four members of the band, all wearing hooded robes, were heading toward the kitchen.

Roxas rushed over to his brother, who was chatting with Riku. "Why didn't you tell me that they were going to be here?" He put his hands on Sora's shoulders and started to shake him. "How much of this have I missed?"

Sora shook his brother free. "Listen. Calm down. Not much. Maybe an hour. They're probably gonna play some more."

Roxas seethed. "I have been up in my room listening to them on headphones when I could have been down here listening to them?"

"Calm down, Roxas." Riku said. "They play all the time. They're not that big of a deal."

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "They are to me." He spun around and walked back towards the kitchen.

"How did he even hear about them?" Riku asked. "Their reach shouldn't be all the way to Destiny Islands."

"Wakka or Tidus has a cousin or something that goes to Twilight High and apparently they sent him some songs and Roxas listened and fell in love or something. He listens to them all the time." Sora answered.

"They're really just some kids from school; soon he won't be so star struck." Riku said.

"He's also just on edge. This whole move thing is making everything a big deal. He's going to calm down. I'll go and try to talk to him." Sora left Riku and headed after his brother. "Hey, where's Roxas?" He asked Xion and Naminé, who were in the kitchen still, now talking to some of the band.

Naminé sighed, "He went back up to his room. He gets upset easily, doesn't he?" Sora nodded. "I did ask him to try. Maybe this really was the worst thing."

Sora shook his head. "It's my fault. I should have talked to him earlier."

"Go talk to him now then." Xion said, but Sora shook his head again. "Why not?" She folded her arms over her chest.

"He's mad at me. I should let him cool down some."

"Isn't that what you thought earlier?" Naminé asked.

"I guess you're right."

Somewhere in his mind, Roxas knew he may have overreacted, but he felt deserving of his right to be indignant. He hadn't been gone from the islands long, but he felt terribly home sick. He just wanted to skip rocks with Selphie, sword fight with Tidus, and play ball with Wakka, but they were what may as well have been millions of miles away as he was nowhere near them.

He hadn't answered his phone at all either, and that upset him because he knew he was being a bad friend, but he was overwhelmed. Tears formed in his eyes and slid down his face. He lay in bed, silently sobbing into his pillow, when he heard the bedroom door open. He sniffled and dried his eyes on the pillow before turning his body, to face away from the door, and said, "Sora, or Naminé, or whoever you are, just let me be alone."

"Oh, sorry." Came an unfamiliar speaking voice. "I was just looking for the bathroom."

Roxas didn't want to show the stranger his face streaked in tears. He made a gesture toward his bathroom door. "There's one in there, you can use, I guess."

"Thanks." The voice responded.

Axel entered the bathroom. He was impressed by how clean it was for a guy's personal space. His own at home was short of disgusting. He pulled his robe off and hung it up over the shower rod. Underneath he was wearing a lime green v-neck and khaki shorts. The robe was hot, but he didn't want to go commando, as Demyx always did. He relieved himself and washed up, absent-mindedly rubbing his face with water. "Shit." He muttered to himself. The teardrop markings under his eyes were partially rubbed away. He went over to his robe to search for his purple eyeliner pencil, but to no avail. "Where'd it go?" He sighed and returned to the sink to remove the makeup. "I have to get these tattooed on one of these days."

When Axel turned the water off, and just before he could grab his robe, he heard sobbing coming from the other room. Axel quietly opened the door and walked over to Roxas. He leaned close to the boy and gently asked, "Are you okay?"

Roxas, having forgotten he let the stranger into his bathroom, cried out in terror as for the second time that day he fell out of his bed in fright. "Why does this keep happening?" He picked himself up and glared down at the guy across from him. "What's the big idea scaring me like that?"

Axel put his hands up defensively. "Sorry, I heard you crying from inside the bathroom, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Roxas face tinged pink and he spun around, wiping his eyes. "I'm fine. Go away."

Axel opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. He exited the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Roxas collapsed back on his bed. He was overwhelmed. There were too many people, and he didn't remember seeing him at the party. He felt like he would recognize somebody who looked like his head was on fire. A knock at the door abruptly ended his thoughts "Go away!" He yelled, but the door opened anyway. The redhead had returned. "What..."

"I forgot something. That's all." Axel said, cutting Roxas off. "I won't come back again. I swear you'll never have to look at me again." Axel entered the bathroom as Roxas rolled his eyes in contempt. When Axel came back out, he was donned in the robe with the hood hiding his face. "See. You never have to look at me again."

Roxas' eyes grew wide and he went slack-jawed. "You're in the band?" He asked as Axel opened the door.

Axel lowered the hood; he had a smirk on his face. "Name's Axel. Axel Lea, lead singer of..."

"Dearly Beloved." Roxas finished. He couldn't believe it. He'd only ever heard their music, never seen them beyond their hooded profiles. His favorite singer was in his bedroom. A voice he fell in love with was speaking to him. He didn't care what Riku said, he was in shock.

"You've heard of us." Axel said, walking toward Roxas.

Roxas was starting to become very hot and very red, he knew he was growing red, which only exacerbated the problem, and he wanted Axel to stop getting closer because it was only going to cause more problems. He couldn't speak because his mouth was too dry. He just closed his mouth and nodded.

"I'm surprised. You're the boy from the Islands, right?" Roxas nodded again. "The one this party is supposed to be for?" Axel was moving closer with every question and Roxas' was having trouble breathing, but he still managed to nod again. "Then why are you here crying instead of enjoying the party?"

Axel had gotten so close, that Roxas could reach out and touch him if he wanted to. A part of him wanted to do just that, but the part that was listening to the words coming from Axel's mouth, the part that savored the sound of his voice, that could listen to him speak, sing, scream forever, that part registered what he had asked and all of the emotions being subdued by Roxas' awe flooded back. Before the floodgates behind Roxas' eyes were opened, he bolted upright, knocking Axel back onto Sora's bed and he darted for the bathroom. With a click, it locked. Roxas turned on the sink and shower at full blast to drown out his violent sobbing.

Axel had not expected that. He went to the door, but couldn't open. He tried to get Roxas to open it up, but to no avail. He frowned, but left the boy to return to the party. The kitchen had emptied. He popped a piece of food in his mouth and looked on the island where he saw Naminé's sketch. He swallowed as he picked it up, and turned it over. "Roxas." He said aloud. He darted his eyes, and saw nobody, so he pocketed the piece of paper, and joined the others in the living room.

"Axel, where were you?" Demyx asked from behind his hood. "We thought you ditched."

"No, I'm still here. Party seems to be dying though. Should we do another set?" Axel asked as the other band members approached them.

"Well I'm growing bored of this." Larxene said. "I say we leave. There are other places I'd rather be."

"You're free to go to those places." Axel said. "We could play without you."

Demyx laughed, and Larxene hit him in the arm. "Yoww!" Demyx cried out.

"Marluxia and I can leave. See how much people want to listen to you without a guitar or drums." Larxene pulled her hood back so the two boys could see her glaring. "Come on." She dragged Marluxia to their instruments and started gathering them.

"Hey, Axel, what's going on?" Riku bounded over to them. "Where's the band going?"

"I may have told Larxene we could play without her and she may have taken offense." Axel answered. "So now she's dragging Marluxia off with their equipment." Axel shrugged. "Party's kind of mellowing out, and Roxas is still up in his room anyway."

"You talked to Roxas?" Sora asked, joining the conversation. "Does he know who you are?"

"I introduced myself, and then he got all red and didn't say anything. I told him I was surprised he'd heard of Dearly Beloved."

Sora grinned. "He loves you guys. No joke, you've been all he's been listening to since..." Sora paused. He realized it had been around the time of their mother's death. "For awhile now. He was so upset that he didn't get to hear you play since he was being stubborn."

Axel watched as Larxene and Marluxia left. Larxene stared daggers into him until they were out of view. "How upset do you think he'll be if he finds out that that was our last performance together?"


	3. After the Big Party

Hey, anybody who is reading this. Sorry for the delay, two months just flies by. I just went through a move and I haven't really made the time to post, which is silly cos the chapters are written. Anyway hopefully people are still reading. Thanks ForaakenXIII again for a review. I'll definitely get more posted much more quickly with these next few chapters.

"I mean, sure she's kind of…"

"Rude? Mean? Evil? Bitchy? A giant, gaping cu…"

"Axel!" Demyx cut him off. "That is demeaning and sexist. And gross cos now I'm thinking of giant and gaping…" Demyx shuddered. "Eww."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Oh please, we are all born of giant, gaping…"

"La la la." Demyx covered his ears. "I was Caesarean. I never have and never will be anywhere near that area of a woman."

Axel shook his head. "You could experiment."

"I am perfectly content with just being a gay boy, thanks." Demyx responded. They had been loading up their equipment while they talked. "Are you gonna start experimenting with guys then?"

In Axel's mind, Roxas' face flashed before him, and he swore he could feel the sketch he stole twitch in his pocket. He decided to ignore the question, so he didn't have to think about it. "What are we gonna do about Larxene and Marluxia?" He asked, closing the trunk of Demyx's car.

"Honestly, as much as I really hate working with Larxene, she's the best electric guitar player we will ever find. Lusha is fine, replaceable, but at least he's tolerable. We can't have a band that's just bass and vocals." Demyx said.

"You're giving her too much credit." Axel said. His eyes sparkled with an idea. "What about…"

"No." Demyx cut him off.

"He's as good as Larxene, with the added bonus of being one of my best friends." Axel pleaded. "We have to do what's best for the band."

"Headline: Dearly Beloved dissolves after bassist indicted in double homicide." Demyx said, moving his hands across a giant, invisible newspaper. "That is not the direction we want our band to go, cos that isn't national press, that's the high school newspaper. I want us to be huge, Axel, but I won't work with him. "

"Can we just have a civil conversation among us?" Axel said. "I want us to be headlining concerts from Atlantica to Port Royal, and selling out the Coliseum, but the band needs reformation now."

"He can't be our only option." Demyx sighed. Axel had his phone out and his fingers nimbly swiped across his keyboard. "Axel Lea! I swear to god if you're texting him."

"Don't worry about it." Axel said not looking up from his phone. "If you have any other ideas, I'm open to suggestions."

"What if we just hold auditions?" Demyx said. "Then we get a nice pool of talent."

"Demyx, we are a small time band in high school, and stuck in Twilight Town. The pool is shallow." Axel responded. "Now get in the car, he's expecting us."

"I hate you so much right now. I want to literally set your head on fire to match your hair." Demyx threw Axel his keys and crossed to the passenger side. "I can't believe you're going to put me through this." The two entered the car and Axel turned the key into the ignition. Demyx let out a long sigh. "But in all seriousness, do I look okay?" Demyx asked.

Axel chortled. "You are impossible." Demyx started primping himself in the vanity mirror. He started to vocalize his fussing. "Will you quiet down? You look fine and I honestly don't think he's going to care." Demyx slapped the mirror closed and started pouting. "Calm down. I meant that he's gonna be happy to see you; it doesn't matter how you look."

"Oh." Demyx said as he quit pouting.

"You two are quite literally crazy about each other." Axel said. "Even if you won't admit it to each other." He started to really think about what that could mean. "We should probably hold auditions though." Axel added.

"But you just made a big deal about this, why the change of heart?"

"I realized how you two get sometimes. I don't want you to actually murder him. At least not until we're famous because I was planning on ditching the band and going solo anyway." Demyx slapped him on the arm. "Seriously, I don't need another Larx and Lusha situation where I'm left scrambling for band members because there was a falling out."

"Well, that's why we're going over to have a chat. It's not like you've already offered him the position." Demyx watched a furrow in Axel's brow quickly form and disappear. "Oh you didn't. Did he accept?" Axel nodded. "Fuck. Axel this is my band too. You don't get to just make decisions without my input."

"Seriously, you can't stay on the same emotional wavelength when it comes to him. Maybe you two should just fuck and get it over with."

Demyx forced a look of shock. "I will do no such thing."

"Whatever, we're here now." Axel said stopping the car. "You know he's single now."

"What? Why are you telling me…what happened?" Demyx asked.

"I guess Vexen got caught up in his studies, and apparently in an assistant in his department. He dropped in on him unexpectedly and Vexen was getting dicked down by someone else."

"Oh. That's horrible." Demyx said, without meaning it.

"Yeah. So he could use some comfort. And something to take his mind off of it. Playing would do him good, and it's good for the band. So don't try and fuck it up because your feelings are everywhere."

"I have my reasons to be upset with him." Demyx said. They finally left the car and proceeded towards the house.

"Yeah, because you wouldn't just tell him how you feel and got pissy when someone who did got his attention. But Vexen is out of the picture now, so maybe if you just open up, and don't be mad he can't read your mind, you'll be happy." On the doorstep, Axel rang the bell. "Just try to contain yourself until we iron out the arrangement."

The door opened. "Hey Axel, Demyx, come on in."

"Saïx! I've missed you so much." Demyx shouted, disregarding Axel's request and immediately attacked Saïx with an embrace.

Axel covered his face with his hand, immediately regretting everything.

###

Of course, Riku and Sora weren't going to tell Roxas that his favorite band had disbanded at the party. He had dealt with enough loss, and the band's music was one of the few things keeping him together. Roxas had once again holed himself in his room and Sora had once again decided it was best to just let him stew. Riku and Sora had just finished cleaning up the living room while Xion, Kairi, and Naminé cleaned the kitchen and saved the leftover food.

"What do you think should be done about Roxas?" Kairi asked, wrapping a plate in plastic.

Naminé looked at her cousin inquisitively. "What do you mean?"

Kairi placed the plate in the fridge, and turned around. "He keeps running away to his room."

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Well, considering he didn't want to be around people today, I think that's understandable. Not everyone is or wants to be a little social butterfly."

"Why so defensive?" Kairi asked.

"I'm not. And because I know what it's like. The last thing that I would want after I lost a parent and had to move away from home was to be thrown into a group with a bunch of strangers. Oh, hmm, wait, that's exactly what happened to me today."

"And you had fun, didn't you?" Kairi asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "He would have too if he would have must come down."

"To be fair, the one time he did come down he just missed his favorite band finishing what may be their last set." Xion said.

Kairi gave Xion a dirty look. "If he were down here, he would have enjoyed them, and he would be happy." Xion backed down from her glare.

"Look, there isn't a problem. He will open up eventually, but he should be able to decide that, not have it thrusted upon him." Naminé said.

The house was clean and Sora and Riku joined the girls. Riku immediately sensed the tension, although Sora was oblivious, grinning, while the girls were stone faced. "What's going on?" Riku asked.

"We are discussing Roxas' absence." Kairi said. "I was just asking what we should do to help him."

"And I was audacious enough to contend that there isn't a problem to help him with." Naminé countered.

"Stop fighting." Xion pleaded. "There isn't a problem, Kairi, but that doesn't mean that it can't become one, Naminé, so both of you need to just chill. I know you think he needs space, Sora, but how about you go talk to him."

"Do I have to?" Sora asked. To answer, the four started yelling at him.

"He's your brother. He needs you."

"Yeah, okay. I know." Sora made his way up to his bedroom. He tried to turn the handle, but it was locked. He sighed and knocked on the door. "Roxas, lemme in."

"Go away." Roxas answered.

"Roxas, that isn't fair, this is my room too." Sora started to yell, annoyed. "Open this door right now."

To his side he could hear footsteps as Naminé made her way up. "Here." Again, she jimmied the door open with a bobby pin. Keep this; you may need it in the future.

Sora nodded and opened the door. Roxas was lying in his bed, wearing just his boxers. "What's the point of a lock if anybody can just waltz in here anyway?"

Naminé was still behind Sora and blushed at the sight of the nearly nude boy. She squeaked and hurried her way back to the kitchen.

"I could have been jerking off, you know. Given poor Naminé a whole show." Roxas said. "Can't I just have my privacy?"

"Not when we share a room. If you wanna masturbate, you'll just have to do it in the shower." Sora said.

"That's not the point. I wanna be alone." Roxas said.

"You've been alone all day." Sora said. "I think we need a heart-to-heart."

"I don't feel like having a heart today." Roxas responded, putting himself back under his covers and pulling them over his head.

"Fine, then listen. I only came up here to appease them. If you need time, I get it. Don't think you're gonna be this hermit forever because that just isn't happening. School starts soon, you have to snap out of it by then. I'm not gonna push anything on you. I'm sorry about the party, for throwing it, and definitely for not getting you when I found out who was playing. I'm being kind of a shitty big brother, but I thought a surprise would be fun. I really didn't think you would be this upset. And that's my fault for not asking you. Roxas, you know I love you, and you're my favorite brother. So I will leave you up here to figure yourself out. Don't lock the door; I am going to need sleep soon."

He was about to walk out of the room when he stopped himself. "Oh, while I am okay with you not wanting to meet new people, for the love of god, talk to the gang back home. Selphie has been texting me every fifteen minutes. Tidus has been even more. That boy had it bad for you. Probably why he wasn't the one calling you earlier. He was still crushed. Anyway, that's all. Do it for them. They miss you, and I know it's been tough, but don't let them think you've abandoned them. Really, leaving now." Sora left this time, closing the door behind him and heading to the kitchen.

"How did it go?" Kairi asked as Sora approached.

Sora shrugged. "He hid underneath his blanket, so I don't even know if he had been listening."

"Maybe we won't know if he was." Naminé said.

"I told him it was okay for him to be alone for now. I asked him to open up when school started. I thought that would be enough time to ease himself into it."

"Okay. But if he is still this distant after school has started, then we're calling it a problem." Kairi said, looking at Naminé. She rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"I'll agree to that." Naminé said, and the others voiced their own agreement. "Assuming he was listening to Sora's request anyway."

Sora's phone buzzed in his pocket and played a calypso rift like they played on the beach. He thought to himself he might have to change that lest he be reminded of home for every text.

New Message

Selphie Tilmitt: Thank you for getting Roxas to call. =) Tidus is so happy he's in tears 3 it's kind of adorable. We miss u 2 Sora!

"Roxas heard me."

###

"Are you two even listening to me?" Axel was becoming frustrated. Demyx really paid no mind to Axel's words about letting his emotions stay dormant because almost immediately after he let go of Saïx, he spilled his guts.

There were tears, sad ones as Demyx explained how long he had pined and how angry he was with himself for letting some unknown college guy take Saïx away, those changed into happy tears as Saïx wiped the sad ones away. He told Demyx how stupid he was for not seeing what was right in front of him.

They both had slowly descended to the floor by this time and were talking with their foreheads pressed against each other's. They were holding hands, crying and apologizing to each other for their own foolishness.

The saccharine display would have been fine with the redhead if it didn't carry over into their business discussion. The two were cuddling up to each other and Axel was starting to feel ignored. "Demyx! Saïx!" He barked, snapping his fingers at them. They didn't acknowledge him, so he put himself between them, forcing them apart. "I take it you don't have any objections to Saïx joining the band now." Demyx shook his head, still plastered in a smile. "Well, now I might."

Both of their smiles dissolved. "What…why?" Demyx asked.

"Because if you carry on like this, we aren't going to ever get any work done." Axel said, forming a small smile.

Saïx chuckled. "You're right. It won't be like this, not all the time, but there are years of repressed feelings and longings mixed in a veritable pot of teenage hormones."

"Well, just until we get through this, put a lid on it." The other two nodded and Axel stood up. He turned around to see them quickly tangled up around each other, but focused on him. "Fourth member, what are the thoughts."

"Lusha is for sure out?" Saïx asked.

"Larx's daggeresque claws are deep in him. She won't let him come to us if we already replaced her." Demyx answered. Axel nodded his agreement. "I suggested auditions, but Axel doesn't think there is any hope." Again, Axel nodded.

"Unless the freshmen are gifted or some transfer students come in that know how to drum." Axel said. His mind was drawn back to the blond boy from the party, Roxas. "Do we know anything about the new kids from the Islands?"

Demyx shook his head. "I only met Sora. He seems nice, I guess. Hmm, Riku knows them pretty well. You could ask him."

"Good idea. Anybody else we know with discernable talent." The two shrugged. "Well, I guess we will have to find a way to draw attention to auditions. We can post it in school when the semester starts, but what until then?" They shrugged again. "Thanks for your input. I'm going to try to talk to Lusha and see if he would wanna sneak around Larxene."

Demyx's phone went off, and he fished it out of the robe he was still wearing.

New Message

Marluxia Alumair: Hey…don't be mad…Larxene is making her own band…she sent out an audition email to the school server…she kept the name Dearly Beloved…I'm sorry…I didn't have a say you know how she is.

"Fuck!" Demyx said. He showed the message to Saïx before tossing his phone to the perplexed Axel. "Who does she think she is?"

"Whatever, now we have an idea for how to get people to audition." Axel said.

"What about the name?" Demyx asked.

"I never really liked it. Don't look at me like that; I know I came up with it. They can't take our songs though; those were written by Zexion and us. Shit, you had better call him, we don't want them to try and steal our lyricist." Axel said as he tossed the phone back to Demyx.

"So what are we gonna call ourselves?" Saïx asked while Demyx was on the phone.

"I'm not sure. I didn't like the old name, but I didn't think much of replacing it." Axel turned to Demyx, who had just sworn as he ended the phone call. "They got to him. Larxene offered to pay him."

"So what does that mean for the songs we already have?" Axel asked.

"I don't know. The lyrics were Zexion's. We could argue that we are all co writers, but at this point, we may just have to cut our losses." Demyx replied. "Start fresh."

"But we suck at words." Axel hung his head. "Why would Zexion turn on us?"

"Can't compete with munny. Larxene has it, and we don't." Demyx answered.

"So we have to find a drummer and a lyricist. Let's send out an email and start making fliers, and anything else we can think of." Axel said. "We'll show them."

###

"I'm sorry. God I wish I hadn't had to leave like that. I already miss you guys so much." Roxas said into his phone.

Tidus was on the other end still beaming. "I'm just happy to hear your voice, Rox. We miss you too. I miss you."

Roxas blushed and smiled. He felt silly for smiling to himself like that. "I promise you guys that I will find a way back to visit you all." At that point, Tidus had put his phone on speaker and Wakka and Selphie could hear him.

"We'll be waiting." Selphie said.

"Yeah man, you gotta be missing the beach by now, ya?" Wakka added.

"I do. It's just not the same here." Roxas said. "It's too suburban and bleh. I miss the water, and the island, and everything. I hate it here, I just wanna go home."

"Chin up, Roxas." Tidus said. "It sucks, but no sense in not making the most of it." Roxas nodded, even though they couldn't see him. "Just know we are just a text or phone call away."

"I know. I promise that I won't ignore you guys anymore." Roxas said. "It just hurts being so far away."

"It hurts us too. Hurts worse when we can't even talk though." Tidus said.

"We should schedule weekly calls." Selphie suggested. "So that no matter what we are busy with we make sure that we never lose touch."

"How about Sunday nights?" Roxas suggested. "Every Sunday will be for us." The others voiced their agreement. "Okay, well I'm gonna go and show the gang downstairs that I am alive and well."

"Bye Roxas!" The chorus of voices rang out.

"Bye!" Roxas said, hanging up. He set his phone on his nightstand and headed downstairs. The kitchen was empty.

In the living room, Sora and Riku were alone. Roxas had found them in a compromising position. Sora was straddling Riku's lap on the couch. Sora was giggling wildly as Riku tickled his sides. Roxas quickly backed up out of sight. I guess they really missed each other.

Roxas decided to go up to Xion's room and see if she was still awake. He knocked on her door. No response. She could be asleep or left with Naminé.

He went back to his room to grab his phone. Maybe he could text Xion and see where she went. He opened the phone and saw a notification, which he opened.

New Message

Wakka Auroch: Didja kno tht Drly Belvd brok up? My cuz jst sent me an email frm them lookin fr new mmbrs

Roxas had to reread that text several times to actually understand it, but when he did, he threw his phone on his bed and raced downstairs.

"What happened at the party?" Roxas yelled as he entered the living room, ice blue eyes staring icicles into the two boys. Riku and Sora were only moments away from sharing their first kiss when Roxas entered with fervor.

In a mixture of surprise and embarrassment, Riku had thrown Sora off of him, both parties deep red from getting caught by the younger boy. "Shit. Sorry, Sora." Riku leapt off the couch and helped him onto his feet. They both turned to face Roxas' anger. "What do you mean?"

"Wakka just texted me saying that the band broke up. What happened?" He asked the question quietly, his voice choked in grief.

Sora rushed to his brother's side and hugged him. "It's okay, Rox. It's just a band." This was a stupid thing to say, and all three of them knew it. Roxas shoved his brother away, who tripped over himself and landed with a thud on the floor. Roxas face flashed with regret before returning to it's pissed off position. Riku again helped Sora to his feet. "Can we stop throwing Sora to the ground?" Sora asked as he clutched his rug burnt elbow.

Riku put his arm around Sora's shoulder and led him to the couch. "Are you okay, Sora?" Riku whispered as they sat down incredibly close to each other. Sora nodded, lacing his fingers in Riku's. For a moment, they had forgotten about Roxas altogether.

Roxas really wanted to ask about them, but had other concerns first. He cleared his throat, and the two remembered his presence. Sora scooted away from Riku, clasping his own hands together in his lap. "So what happened?" He asked again.

"Roxas, you have to understand that they really are not that big of a deal." He saw Roxas scowl, so he clarified. "They are students, Rox. They haven't been playing long, they have like five songs, otherwise they just basically do covers. I honestly don't know how they lasted the few months they did, because Axel really hates Larxene and she really hates him and Demyx."

"But they mattered to me. Why does everything I like go away?" Roxas sunk into a chair. "It isn't fair." He rested his head in his hand and stared off into space. He snapped out of it. "I swear every time I come downstairs it's terrible. Maybe I should just stay upstairs." He retreated quickly back to his room before either of the boys could protest.

"Is there anything we can do?" Sora asked.

Riku was ahead of him, as he typed out a text message. "I had an idea. I think it should work."

Sora leapt to Riku's side and gave him a hug. "Thanks." He smiled as he held on to the boy.

"Now where were we?" He waggled his eyebrows lasciviously. "I think you were here." He pulled Sora onto his lap. The brunet laughed as Riku's grip tickled his sides. "Just like this." He took Sora's chin and tipped it down to look into his eyes. Riku caressed Sora's cheek and slowly leaned up to catch his lips, but was stopped by Sora's finger holding him back. "You don't want to kiss me anymore?"

Sora contorted his face in mock disgust. "You probably have cooties." He joked. "Of course I want to, but, I mean, it's our first time. I didn't protest the last time because of the spontaneity. I just want it to be spur of the moment. Plus, I feel guilty. Roxas is really down, while I am having a lot of fun."

Riku frowned. "But I'm really enjoying this."

"Yes, I can feel that." Sora giggled at Riku's blush. "I'm not saying we aren't going to go further. The flirting over the phone got really heavy when I told you I was moving here. I'm clearly into you. Just be patient. I want to make sure Roxas is happy before I am consumed by lust."

"Well, if my idea works out accordingly, Roxas should be plenty happy."

"What's your idea?"

Roxas took to focus his energy into unpacking. He didn't want to think about anything. He started with his clothes. Hanging up his shirts and folding his pants neatly onto shelves in the walk in closet. He shoved his underwear and socks into a dresser. He was more careful with his numerous bracelets, necklaces and random accessories he had accrued. It had occurred to him he was still in his boxers, something he never really had to think about before, but there were girls in the house who wouldn't want to see him like that. He made a note of wearing pants around the house.

The contents of the next box were from his bookshelf. He moved his pants from the shelves in the closet and started lining his books, CDs and DVDs on the now clear shelving. He pulled out some notebooks from over the years. He hadn't looked through them in awhile, except maybe the one he used to write after his mom died.

He started leafing through the older notebooks. He cringed at some of the writing, but for the most part, he thought himself as a decent writer. It was mostly poetry and random musings he had. He sat up and threw the notebooks on his bed. He finished with the box and moved onto the next. It was his last and filled with mostly décor. Posters and pictures of him and his friends filled the box. He started hanging them up on the walls of his side of the room. This meant a lot of raising his arms over his head, and after awhile he realized he badly needed a shower. Once he had completely unpacked, he headed into the shower to wash away the stink before bed.

Saïx and Demyx had started drawing up posters and fliers while Axel sent out an email through the school mail when Axel received a text.

New Message

Riku Leonheart: Hey Ax, I know it's kind of late, but if you could do me a little big favor. Could you come back to the party? I mean it's over, but just come back.

Axel blinked at his screen. He responded with an affirmative, not bothering to ask why, even though he was curious. Saïx and Demyx were off in their own little world. He told them he was leaving. They said goodbye, but didn't ask why he was leaving. Axel wrapped himself in his robe and headed out. He decided they weren't going to wear these anymore.

He still had Demyx's keys and hoped the blond wouldn't be too upset. Who am I kidding; I just gave him an airtight excuse to stay here all night. He started up the car and sped off towards his destination.

Riku and Sora waited in the kitchen for Axel to arrive after he sent a text saying he would come. "I mean, it isn't a bad plan, but didn't Axel say Roxas got super nervous and weird when they met. Should we subject that to him again?"

Riku scrunched up his forehead. "I hadn't thought of that. I figured he would want to hear from Axel himself that he wasn't gonna stop singing anytime soon. Now this seems like a stupid idea."

"It'll be fine." Sora said. A few moments passed and knock came at the door. Sora let Axel in. "Hi, Axel."

"Hi, Sora." He greeted in return. "What's up, Riku?" Riku explained the plan. "That seems like something that definitely had to happen tonight. High priority stuff."

"Okay, ass, but Roxas needs something, he really is torn up about it. Your biggest fan is in his room, probably sulking. Take this as future rock star training."

"Giving a fan what they want in their bedroom. I do intend to do that a lot when I'm famous." Axel gave a wide grin and Riku laughed.

Sora wasn't nearly as impressed as they watched Axel walk away. "I don't want to hear crude sex jokes regarding my baby brother. He's barely 14. And Axel is…

"17 like me, and a junior like us."

"Too old to be talking about sex like that on his way up to see Roxas."

"I don't think Axel is interested in guys."

"What does that matter? I think Roxas might be, and whether or not he is, if Axel sings to him, Roxas would probably do anything." Sora said, shuddering.

"I don't think that's gonna happen." Riku said.

Axel entered the bedroom, and found it empty. He walked in and noticed the posters and pictures that were now adorning the walls. Decent taste in music. The beach looks nice. These must be friends of his. He realized he had been staring a bit too long at a picture of Roxas shirtless lying on the beach. He quickly turned his attention to the bed. He looked at the notebooks inquisitively. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he started paging through them. This isn't half bad. I wonder…

His thoughts were cut off by the opening of the bathroom door. He stared as a fully nude Roxas walked out, toweling his face and hair off, obscuring his vision to the man on his bed. He brought the towel down to dry his chest when he noticed the red head. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, dropping the towel to cover himself. "What are you doing here?"

Axel stammered, unable to process any thoughts as his eyes laid transfixed on the blond boy before him. Oh god, he's gorgeous.

Roxas still had his voice, and he saw what was in Axel's hand. His notebook, most importantly the black one that he had written in exclusively since his mother's passing, was opened as if Axel had been reading it. "Put that down."

Axel was still dumbfounded, and didn't quite pay attention to the command. Roxas was not having it and leapt onto the redhead to retrieve his innermost self.

"Let go of it." Roxas said, having dropped the towel, was completely naked on top of him. "How dare you read this? It isn't yours."

"Beautiful." Was all Axel managed to get out of his mouth. Roxas dropped the notebook and his whole body tinged red.

"What?" The word caught him off guard and he nearly whispered his question, becoming shy in contrast to his outburst.

"Your words, they're heart-wrenching, hauntingly beautiful." Axel had regained his ability to speak. "And you, you're stunning, striking."

"Roxas' blush had gone even brighter, but the words coming from Axel, coated in the voice that he had fallen in love with, made his head spin. He had even forgotten he was naked. He was overwhelmed by this feeling of bliss that small tears formed and dripped down his cheeks.

Axel couldn't control himself. This beautiful creature upon him shouldn't have reason to cry. He leaned himself upward and Roxas fell into a position on his lap. He wiped the tears from Roxas' face. The boy smiled softly in appreciation. Their eyes locked and the smile faded into a look of longing, as their lips met in a gentle, warming kiss that melted Roxas.

They had lost awareness of the world around them, so they hadn't noticed the two figures in the doorway, mouths agape at the sight in front of them. "You see, you see! I told you this was gonna happen. My naked brother is on him and it's been," he stopped to look at an invisible wristwatch, "five minutes! If we waited any longer…" Sora shuddered. "I'm stopping this."

Sora started inside but Riku grabbed his hand and pulled Sora towards him. "You wanted Roxas to be happy? Well, I can't see his face, but by the way his ass is gyrating, he looks pretty happy. Like a dog wagging its tail."

Sora hit Riku on the arm. "Stop looking at my brother's butt, mine is the only one you should look at."

Riku pulled Sora into him and grabbed one of Sora's cheeks. "You gonna show me?" He asked lustfully. Sora smiled coyly, but stopped Riku when he tried to kiss him.

"Not now either. I don't want to think that you're getting turned on by Roxas naked." Sora said. "I'm putting an end to this." Riku rolled his eyes. Sora couldn't let anyone get some tonight.


	4. Overprotective

A/N: Bonus chapter today! Next one should be up, hmm...maybe next weekish. I have 6 more written, but I've gotta get on top of the new stuff. Drop a review and let me know what you think tho, so I know I'm writing this for at least one person. Haha :)

"Axel!" The redheaded boy turned to the sound of his name, but quickly resumed his walk when he saw the body to whom the voice belonged. "Oh, don't run from me." Riku said to himself. He then shouted to his friend. "Do you really think I can't catch you?" He took off after Axel, who tried to outrun him, but he quickly got close enough to reach out and grab Axel's shirt, stopping him. "Why are you running?"

"You're pissed at me, and I know you're pissed at me. I don't want to fight with you." Axel said, breaking Riku's grip.

"I have a right to be upset, you know." Riku said, putting his hands on his hips. "What you did was out of line."

"Bullshit." Axel said, crossing his arms. "You're only saying that because Sora's mad at you."

"I just wanted you to talk to Roxas. Assure him that you're not going to stop singing. Tell him about the band that you and Demyx are gonna make that's going to be better than Dearly Beloved. I didn't want you to come over and molest him immediately. I didn't even know you were into guys." Riku said.

"Me neither." Axel scratched the back of his neck. "I don't think that it's guys. I think it may just be him. There's something about him, you know. He's just attractive. Not that it matters really. Sora's that mad, huh?"

Riku's put his thumb and index finger millimeters apart. "I was this close to a kiss, and then Roxas comes and messes that up, but now because of you, he won't even talk to me. I can't hug him, or hold his hand or get close to him because of how mad he is at me for letting you touch his baby brother. He's finally physically in my life again, and I can't have him."

"It was as much Roxas' fault. I didn't get him naked, and I didn't make him jump on me." Axel said.

"Irrelevant. As far as Sora's concerned his kid brother is pure and you're the evil old man who is trying to corrupt him." Riku said.

"I'm as old as you are." Axel said, pouting. "I'm not at fault here, I didn't corrupt him. You can't be mad at me. Sora's gonna let it go." Riku shook his head. "Fine, then how about we find you someone else who will touch you?"

Riku scrunched up his face. "Shut up, Axel. I..." Riku took pause. He had to process his thoughts about what he wanted to say.

"You...?" Axel gestured for Riku to continue with his hand."

"I...it's not love, I don't think. Not yet. But I care a lot for Sora, and I want us to be together, even if it means I have to get back in his good graces before we get physical."

Axel put his hands up to stop Riku. "Okay, okay. Don't get all sappy. He's going to come around."

###

"Are you ever going to come around?" Kairi asked Sora. She, Sora and Naminé were lying on the beds in Sora's shared room. "Every time I've seen Riku he just looks sad."

"He thought it was a good idea for Axel to come here and take advantage of Roxas. I don't have to come around on that." Sora said in a huff. "I'm Roxas' big brother. It's my duty to protect him from creeps like Axel. I know his type. He's going to use Roxas, and move on to the next young thing. I'm not letting Roxas make that mistake."

Naminé twirled her hair in her finger as she thought. "For now." She muttered.

Sora turned to look at the girl who spoke. "What do you mean by that?"

Naminé was timid, and didn't want to say anything to upset the boy, but she knew she wanted to speak her mind. "Well, first off, what does Roxas think about this?"

Sora furrowed his brow. "He was being molested by someone way older than him, how could he have wanted that?"

"You haven't even talked to Roxas about it?" Kairi asked, astonished. "That's not fair to him."

"He's too young to know what's good for him." Sora replied. "I know what's best."

"You're only two years older than him. Axel is the same age as Riku; he's not some predator going after Roxas. How do you know Roxas didn't initiate something?"

"Why would Roxas...?" Sora started

"Why would Axel?" Kairi interrupted. "I'm not super close with Axel, but he's close to Riku and by proxy is my friend. I've never known him to be interested in guys..."

"Roxas hasn't show interest either!" Sora said emphatically.

"Then neither of them likes guys. It could have been anything that happened between them, but you didn't even talk to Roxas before you labeled Axel as some predatory monster." Kairi said.

Naminé decided to jump back in the conversation since Kairi had interrupted her thought. "So, as I was trying to say, you can only "protect" Roxas for so long. He's going to eventually make the same mistakes we all need to make to grow."

"He doesn't need to make the mistakes if I tell him what he needs to know." Sora said.

"You can't be there for him all the time." Kairi said.

"Twilight High is massive, Sora." Naminé said. "You are barely going to see him at school. He's going to make friends that are different from yours. You have Kairi, Riku, and their friends. Roxas and Xion have grown pretty close, and with Xion come Hayner, Pence and Olette. He's going to have more than just you."

Sora scoffed at Naminé. "I know that. I want him to have friends. I just want what's best for him, Axel is not good for him."

Naminé could feel the scorn coming from Sora in waves and she was feeding off of it to fuel her words. "You're lying. You want what's best for you. The party was proof. It worked out so well for you. He didn't want to socialize, and you let him sulk in his room. His favorite band was here, and you let him stew. The band breaking up was just a cherry on top because it would upset Roxas more. If he remains withdrawn then he remains yours."

Sora was incredulous. "You are so far off base. I think you should go." Sora said moving to open the door. "Now." Naminé and Sora locked eyes the entire time it took Naminé to reach the door.

Naminé turned around as she crossed the threshold. "Sora, I'm sorry. Not for what I said, but because there is going to come a time, probably sooner than later, that Roxas is going to see how you try to mask your control and call it protection, and he's going to resist you, and he's going to resent you. I'm sorry that by then, you won't have listened to anyone about how Roxas needs to be able to do things on his own, to make his own mistakes, and you won't see him pull away until he is gone. I'm sorry that he will hate you. I'm sorry that he will leave you. I'm sorry that you won't believe me until it's too late."

Sora slammed the door shut in Naminé's face. His breathing had grown faster as he seethed over her words. "Who the fuck does that bitch think she is?"

Kairi gasped audibly. "Sora! That "bitch" is my cousin. "

"So you agree with her?" Sora said scowling.

"I didn't say that, but you can't call her a bitch because she's giving you a point of view that is very possible." Kairi said.

Sora shook his head. "I don't believe this. How am I the bad guy for wanting to protect my brother from people like Axel who are just going to hurt him?"

"You don't know that though. You don't know Axel. You didn't ask Roxas what he felt. You only care about what you're feeling about it all. That's what Naminé was saying."

"If you're just gonna take Naminé's side, then you might as well go too. I don't want to hear it." Sora said, opening the door. He walked away and collapsed into his bed.

"Sora..."

He waved his hand, ushering her to leave. "Shut the door when you go." He said, his voice muffled by the pillow he buried his face into.

Kairi sighed, but resigned herself to his dismissal. She closed the door behind her and proceeded downstairs, where Naminé sat at the kitchen table, waiting. "He kicked you out too?"

"I don't understand what's going on with him." Kairi responded. "This isn't the Sora I remember. I've never seen him angry. He used to be so happy-go-lucky on the island."

"Guess he's changed." Naminé said. She stood out and smoothed out her white dress. "Should we go talk to Roxas?"

Kairi shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't want to be involved if this is going to become a big thing. Sora's upset at Riku for bringing Axel in. He's upset at me for siding with you. I don't want to have to choose sides between family and friend." As Kairi spoke, they slowly made their way out of the house and onto the sidewalk heading toward the center of town. "He's going to come around when he realizes that he's just pushing us away."

###

Xion and Roxas were waiting at the usual spot for Hayner and Olette. Xion lay on the couch while Roxas walked around, looking at the posters adorning the wall and the random furniture and things that have built up in the little alley alcove. He came across a poster for Dearly Beloved and quickly turned away, resisting the urge to tear it down. He sat on the nearest chair in a huff.

Xion noted her cousin's manner of sitting. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, pulling herself up into a sitting position and looked at Roxas. "I know I've asked you that a few times since the party, but three days have passed and you and Sora both seem miserable."

"What's there to talk about?" Roxas asked, slumping further into the chair. "I don't have any friends, my favorite band is gone, I'm stuck in this city I don't want to be in and my mother is still dead. I would say things couldn't get worse, but that will just lead to some horrible thing I didn't think of happening."

"You have me and your brother. Riku, Kairi, Naminé; you have friends." Xion said.

"I know, but that doesn't count. You're family. I wouldn't say I'm friends with Riku and Kairi just because they're Sora's friends. I haven't really talked to either of them since coming here, except yelling at Riku when I found out about the band, and I may have squeaked at him when he saw me naked."

"That's another thing, you made out with one of the hottest boys at school. That's gotta count for something." Xion said with exuberance. "You don't know how many people will be jealous of the new kid who was in the throes of passion with Axel Lea."

Roxas blushed. "I don't think that counts either. I mean it was...fun." Roxas literally couldn't stop thinking about the night. It replayed in his mind constantly. The taste of Axel's lips, the feel of his hands on his naked back, the scent that lingered in his bed that he feared would disappear. "So it was good, great even, but a one-time thing is hardly something for anybody to be jealous about."

A gentle kiss had soon built up into a hungry fervor as Roxas and Axel's kissing became more intense. Axel's hands roamed Roxas' back, pulling him in closer. Roxas ground his hips against Axel. Both boys wished that the layers of clothing on Axel would not be in the way.

Before a chance to remove anything more was had, Sora had pulled Roxas off of the redhead. Roxas quickly became aware again of his surroundings and extremely embarrassed of what had just happened. Roxas turned away, only to find Riku in the doorway, holding an amused grin and a slight blush. Roxas made a noise, and snatched up his towel before running into the bathroom and closing the door.

"What did you do that for?" Axel asked, sitting up on the bed.

Sora was enraged at the question. He raised a hand to strike but Riku had held it steady. "Sora, calm down." That was the wrong thing to say. Sora turned to Riku and hit him in the arm with his free hand. "Sora, what did you do that for?"

"Will you people stop asking stupid questions?" Sora seethed. "You brought this pervert in to make Roxas feel better and all he does is come and lure him in to some sexual trap." He yelled at Riku.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault." Axel said in defense. "He was the one who was naked and he got on top of me."

Sora stared daggers into the older boy. "Did _he_ kiss you?" Axel shook his head no. "Then why did he get on top of you?"

"To stop me from reading his journal." Axel answered sheepishly. "He's a really good writer. I'm actually kind of glad because mine and Demyx's new band will need a songwriter and maybe Roxas would want to."

"Absolutely not!" Sora shouted. "I don't want you anywhere near my little brother with your hormones trying to get into his pants again."

"If he's even wearing pants next time." The utterance was automatic, a sarcastic quip that flew from his mouth before he could even register the thought.

Riku's eyes grew wide in stunned disbelief. All that he could respond with was "Dude..."

"Get out." Sora grabbed Axel by the arm and pulled him off the bed. "Get out of here. I swear to every fucking god there is that if you come anywhere near Roxas again, I'm going to cut off and feed your dick to some dogs." Sora chased Axel down the stairs and out the door, with Riku not far behind.

Riku watched his friend flee the house. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" He asked Sora, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder. Sora shrugged it off and walked a step away. "Sora..."

"Don't." Sora shook his head. His rage had not subsided and he was trying not to lash out at Riku, but Riku was making it hard not to. "This is your fault."

"Sora, I didn't make them do that." Riku contested. "They're both horny, teenage boys. They got caught up in a moment. It's natural. It probably won't happen again."

"It definitely will not happen again, unless Axel wants his balls made into kibble." Sora said. "I am protecting my brother from becoming some rocker punk's plaything."

"You don't know Axel." Riku responded. "He's not like that."

"I know who he is." Sora muttered. His expression grew distant for a moment. Riku attempted to get closer to Sora, but that caused him to snap back to reality. "Don't touch me." Riku dropped his hands to his sides and hung his head. "You should go."

"Sora, please. I don't want to leave if you're mad at me." Riku said. He tried looking him in the eyes, but Sora wouldn't return his gaze. "I'm sorry." He left. All of the rage that had built up inside of Sora came out with force as he slammed the door shut. He fell to the floor and started violently sobbing as memories he tried so hard to keep locked away found their way to the forefront of his mind.

Cloud came rushing downstairs when he heard the reverberations of the slammed door. "What is going on down here?" He asked as he tied his robe shut. He had retired to his room before the party ended and didn't realize it had been over for over an hour already. "Sora?" He rushed to his son's side. "Sora, what's wrong?"

Sora clung to his father, but didn't stop crying. Cloud stayed there with Sora, until he had cried himself to sleep. Cloud carried Sora up to his room, not as easy a feat as when Sora was a child, and tucked him into bed. Cloud looked onto his two children and breathed a heavy sigh. He hoped that it would get better for them soon.

"I was in the bathroom, but I heard Sora screaming at Axel. I don't know what caused it, but I'm pretty sure that he sufficiently scared him off. Riku too, since I haven't seen hide nor silver hair in the last three days." Roxas sighed. "I know he'll tell me he wants what's best for me, but I'm not some child that needs to be watched over. I saw my father carry him into our room that night. He was holding onto dad tight. I haven't asked about it yet. Sora and I haven't really talked at all since the party. I've just been hanging around here."

"There's nothing wrong with that. You needed friends. Pence, Hayner and Olette are good people. You should try and talk to Sora soon though." Xion said. Both of their attentions were caught by the two now standing in the entry to their spot. "Oh hey, it's about time...oh..."

"Sorry to intrude." Naminé said, fidgeting with her dress. "We just wanted to discuss the Sora problem."

###

Riku couldn't stay mad at Axel. At least not for this. They had been friends since Riku moved to Twilight Town, or at least after Riku's first month. Riku was the new kid and Axel was a bit of a bully. When he was younger, Riku was shy, and especially being new and not knowing anybody, this made him an easy target.

One day, Riku was sitting alone at lunch, as he always did, while Axel was sitting with his friends. Axel swears up and down it was an accident, that he was just talking with his hands while eating his spaghetti, but on that day, a meatball from Axel's fork made it way to Riku's face.

Riku decided that that had been the last straw. Axel and his friends were so consumed by laughter that they hadn't noticed Riku pick up a fistful of his spaghetti, or that he had made his way to their table, or even the look of murder in his seafoam eyes, but without any of them any wiser, he dumped the spaghetti right on top of Axel's head.

The situation could have gotten far worse between the two boys, except a random voice threw out the two words that diffused the tension between the two: FOOD FIGHT!

They tried to plead their case to Vice Principal Leonheart, but she wasn't hearing it. "You two are the culpable parties; therefore you two will be disciplined as such." She turned her attention to Riku specifically. "Don't think you're going to get special treatment just because you're my son. We'll talk about this more at home tonight." They each earned a week of detention. The first day they were livid at each other. Didn't speak a word to each other, but spent most of their time glaring at each other.

As the week progressed, they slowly started to talk. By that Friday, Riku was at the same lunch table as Axel, laughing with them all like they'd been friends for years. When Kairi moved to town, she would join them on occasion, but Kairi was more sociable than Riku, so she made friends much more easily. Riku really only had Axel and his friends.

So yes, Riku was pissed off that Axel had caused Sora to become upset with him, but things weren't going to change. "Where were you heading before I stopped you?" Riku asked.

"Back to Saïx's. We're gonna practice, or we are going to try. It really depends if they're willing to free their hands from each other." Axel replied. "Demyx didn't even want to see Saïx and now...I don't even know if they've left each other's presence since."

"That would make using the bathroom awkward." They laughed. "Maybe they will be less touchy if I join you. I could use something to do. Sora won't talk to me and Kairi and Naminé were heading over to see him last she told me." Riku balled his hands into fists. "I just miss him. It pisses me off that he's making this into such a big deal."

Axel noticed Riku's fists and took a side step away from his friend. "Don't hit me. I don't know what to tell you. Invite him over to the rehearsal, maybe?"

Riku gave him a disbelieving look. "That's a stupid..." He paused.

"Maybe form your thought before speaking, hmm?" Axel mused.

"Shut up. No, maybe it's not a stupid idea. Maybe he just needs to see you in a better light. One that isn't casting Roxas' shadow." Riku said.

"Or he'll come to kill me for the fun of it." Axel retorted.

"You'll have protection, assuming the lover boys get off of each other long enough to help you." Riku said.

"What about you?"

Riku laughed. "Axel, if I were to stop Sora from murdering you, I would never get him to ever touch me again. I'm not sure your life is worth that to me." Riku grinned at his friend, who was glaring at him through a pout. "Sorry meatball." A small smile escaped Axel's pout at Riku's nickname. "Also, Sora's kind of scrawny. If he kills you, maybe you deserved it. Survival of the fittest and all."

Axel shrugged. "Yeah, but I can't fight back, or you'd kill me. And you're low-key terrifying, Riku." They had reached Saïx's shortly after. "Well, are you gonna text him? Call him? Send a smoke signal?" Axel asked, brandishing a lighter. "Fire is a great way to communicate." He said behind a wide smile.

"I'll text, that's fine. I doubt he'll come. Worth a shot though right."

 _ **New Message**_

 _ **8/9/15 14:43**_

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ If youre not busy and not still mad at me i think it'd be super cool if you came to see me. im with axel and his band. i know that if you just hung out with him youll see hes not a bad guy. roxas wont be here. worst case scenario i help you dispose the body ;)

 _ **Riku Leonheart:**_ I miss you

Riku held the phone in his hand, hoping that Sora would text back soon. Almost immediately, his phone vibrated and he looked down at the screen.

 _ **Sora Strife:**_ What's the address?

He wouldn't admit to anyone that he was wrong, but he didn't want to stay mad at Riku, and maybe he had overreacted at him a bit. Not at Axel, no, but maybe at Riku. So when Sora saw the two texts from him, he couldn't help but smile. It wouldn't be the ideal location to be, but maybe if he gave Axel a sliver of a chance, it would make Riku happy. And there was always homicide as a back-up plan.

It took Sora about twenty minutes to get to Saïx's from his place, which was almost enough time to detangle Saïx and Demyx. When he rang the doorbell, he heard what memory served him as Axel's voice shouting, "That's it! Saïx get the goddamn door. Not you, Demyx! Sit the fuck down."

Sora didn't recognize the man at the door. It must have been Saïx. He had an unamused look on his face. "Hi, Saïx?" He nodded. "I'm Sora, I don't know if you were expecting me."

"Riku mentioned you would be coming." Saïx said gruffly, taking out his annoyance on anyone he could. "Well, come in." Sora quickly walked past the man and entered the living room where the others were waiting. Axel had set himself up as a shield to keep Demyx and Saïx apart. As Saïx entered behind Sora, he rolled his eyes. "A bit much, Axhole."

Sora laughed far too hard at Saïx. "Oh my god, Axhole, that's perfect."

"Sora." Riku frowned.

"It was funny." Sora said. "My understanding is that I don't have to like him." Riku kept frowning. Sora rolled his eyes and a formed a smirk with his lips. Sora crossed over to Riku, still frowning, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Riku was surprised. "Are you smiling yet?" Sora asked against Riku's chest. He felt Riku's arms around his shoulders and took that as a yes.

"Well that's not fair." Demyx whined. "Why do they get to hug without you getting in the way?"

"Because you two have not stopped in the last three days, and they haven't seen each other in that long. Plus, we need to practice. If we prove we are good, better than Larx and Lusha, then maybe we can get Zex back on our side and we won't just have to perform covers." Axel said.

"We still have to find a drum player." Demyx whined. Sora's eyes grew wide, not just annoyed by the boy who only spoke in whines, but fearful that Riku might say something.

"You guys need someone to play drums?" Riku asked, shifting his glance to Sora.

"Riku." Sora started, staring at the silver-haired boy.

"Yeah, why do you know someone?" Saïx asked.

"I swear to god." Sora continued, turning his body, ready to pounce.

"I do as a matter of fact." Riku said, ignoring Sora's body language.

"Don't say it." Sora finished.

"Who?" Axel asked.

"So-" Sora jumped on Riku and caused him to fall against the sofa.

"Ra?" Axel finished for Riku. "You can play the drums?" He asked the brunet currently internally conflicted about strangling Riku. "That's cool." Axel thought for a moment. "But no thanks."

"What?" The four boys said.

"Why not?"

"Axel, we need a drummer."

"Is this because of his brother?"

"I wouldn't be in your band anyway." Sora said.

"I know." Axel said, smiling slyly. He was hoping his reverse psychology would work, because there was only so much pissing off he could do to Sora without Riku getting upset at him too. "See, we have a certain sound we're going for. Your island calypso drum probably isn't the sound we're looking for."

It dawned on Riku what Axel was going for, but anger clouded Sora's perception. "Show me a drum kit and I'll make you eat your words."

"There's one in the garage, follow me." Saïx said. He led the boy through the kitchen with Demyx not far behind.

"You're lucky he didn't see through that." Riku said to his friend after they were left alone.

"I know, but it worked right?" Axel said. "Is he any good?"

"It's been awhile. He didn't do it much with my presence. He was a hyper child, and they thought it would give him focus. I don't even know if he's been keeping up. He didn't bring drums with him from home, so maybe he gave it up. He wants to prove you wrong though, so maybe." Riku said.

Demyx came running in. "Axel, oh my god, Axel come see this, it's like, oh my god."

Riku and Axel followed Demyx into the garage, where Saïx was standing mouth agape. "This is exactly what we need. This is better than what we need. He would show us up if we had him in the band."

"That's why we gotta practice, Saïx." Axel said.

Sora held a concentrated look as his limbs flung wildly about the drum kit. How he managed to stay in control was beyond the others. He played for five minutes before he started to grow tired. It had been several months since he'd played and he had given it everything to prove his point. He threw the drumsticks to the ground and looked at Axel. "Is my calypso island drumming good enough for your guys 'image?'" The last word dripped in sarcasm.

Demyx and Saïx both walked over to Sora giving him high regard. "We need you in this band, Sora." Demyx whined. Sora was going to get sick of that quickly. "We have to show up Larxene for abandoning us."

"She was dead weight." Saïx said. "Please, Sora we need you in this band with us. What will it take?"

He looked from Saïx to Demyx and then to Axel. Sora chuckled, and then said, "Get rid of Axel."


	5. Changed

A/n: Another update! Thanks for follows, would love to hear some feedback. I'll probably get another chapter posted in a few days.

There was a stunned silence. Demyx and Saïx shared looks, trying to figure out what they could do. They glanced from Axel to Sora and back again before trying to communicate without speaking.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Axel finally broke the silence. "Riku, tell your boyfriend that he can't usurp my band."

Riku blushed embarrassed. "He's not my..."

"And even if I were, he doesn't own me." A vibration Sora felt prompted him to check his phone. He quickly typed something and returned to look at Axel. "If I wanna take over your little band here he can't stop me." Sora said, bearing his teeth in a sinister smirk.

"You two can't possibly be considering what he wants?" Axel looked to his friends.

"Axel..." Demyx whined then looked back to Saïx. "Did you see him play?"

"He's pretty awesome, Ax." Saïx said. "No offense, but we could find a comparable singer with a lot more ease than a competent drummer. Marluxia couldn't do half this good on his best day."

Axel was in shock. "You two are really going to choose him over me?" He clenched his fists, fighting back fury, fighting back tears. "After everything we've been through?"

Sora laughed. "Don't be so dramatic, it's just a garage band."

"Then why do you want to be in it?" Axel asked seething.

"I never said I did, but it's a nice lesson for you about how you can't just take things that aren't yours." Sora said. "Now you know how it feels."

Axel looked glared at Sora, but as he shifted his gaze to Demyx and Saïx, they turned away, refusing to meet his eyes. "Go to hell. All of you." Axel stormed out of the garage.

The tension in the air had grown so thick it was nearly palpable. Riku looked in disgust at Demyx and Saïx, both sporting looks of shame. "I can't believe you two. I hope you two feel like shit right now." He turned his attention to Sora, who was still smiling, though it had grown less snarky after Axel's absence. "I...I..."

"What?" Sora asked with genuine curiosity as to what the silver-haired boy was trying to say.

Riku ran his hands through his hair as he grew more agitated trying to decide what he wanted to say, and if he wanted to say it out loud. He took a deep breath. "I want to know what happened to the boy who I left on the island. The one who I couldn't stop thinking of, dreaming of for a single day since I've moved here. The one who I wished for so long to just hold and declare my love for because I was so in love. I am so in love. But you're not that boy anymore, and I wish I could bring him back." Riku couldn't stay to see if his words had affected Sora. He was afraid of the backlash and so he ran after Axel, hoping he could help his friend recover from his bandmates' betrayal.

"Oh. My. God. I can't believe he said that!"

"Well he didn't say it to my face." Naminé added.

"But still." Xion said. "Oh. My. God."

"Were you acting like a bitch?" Roxas asked timidly.

"ROXAS?!" Kairi, Naminé and Xion yelled. Xion, who was closest to him, slapped him upside the head.

"Ow!" Roxas cried, rubbing the sore spot. "Sorry, I mean, like, what was it that you said that made him think that?"

"I guess that's why we're here, right." Kairi said. "To talk about that." Naminé and Kairi had flanked Xion on the couch. "We are afraid that Sora is trying to keep you from having friends."

"Why would you think that?" Roxas asked incredulously. "Sora isn't preventing me from being here right now, talking to you all."

"Not yet." Naminé said. "Look, we're just observing the situation and the way it seems isn't good. He sprung a party on you, and he should have known you weren't ready. He didn't talk to you about your feelings on anything that has happened. Your favorite band was downstairs playing and he didn't get you. He's selfish, Roxas."

"The whole party was supposed to be for you, Rox." Kairi said. "But he didn't even try to get you to join. He wanted you to be miserable and on your own."

"Then there's the Axel thing." Naminé said. "We don't know all the details, but you making out with someone isn't something that's bad."

"Especially since he's so hot." Xion interjected. The girls giggled while Roxas blushed and rolled his eyes. "From what Roxas says, Sora and Riku were about to get hot and heavy before he had interrupted them himself."

"Riku said that too. Sora's pushing us away. He's ignoring Riku. He's fighting with me and Naminé and he won't talk to you. He doesn't know what Axel did or didn't do, and whether or not you wanted to, and he doesn't care. He thinks he can tell you the ways of the world when you should be living life." Kairi said.

Roxas sighed. "I love Sora. Can we just chalk up his bad behavior to the move?" The girls looked at each other with doubt. "I will talk to him, even if I have to hunt him down, but Sora's always been a bit reserved with his feelings. He was upset for only like a minute about the move, and even now I'm still pissy. He's gotta be feeling something, but he just bottles it all up. It's been like that since mom. He forces up this facade. If after I talk to him, he's still a big jerk, we can figure out what to do." The girls nodded their agreement. Roxas quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and sent a text. "I'll try and see where he is."

"Do you want us to come with for moral support?" Xion asked. Roxas shook his head.

A noise sounded and Roxas looked at his screen. "Who's Saïx?"

"Friend of Axel's." Kairi replied. "He's kind of strange, why do you ask?"

"Apparently that's where Sora is." Roxas said. "Do you know where he is?"

Kairi nodded. "He had a party there. Well quite a few actually, his parents are super rich and super busy and really never home, so Saïx does what he wants." Kairi shrugged. "I can lead you there, if you want to get to Sora now." Roxas nodded. Kairi turned to her cousin. "I know you think I'm being pushy, but stay with Xion, wait for the gang. Make some friends." Kairi put her hands on Naminé's shoulders and waited for an affirmative response, which she reluctantly gave. "I'll be back soon; I don't see a reason to stay with Roxas during the confrontation."

"I don't know what I'm going to say to him though." Roxas said. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he and Kairi walked through the sandlot. "Maybe I should wait; he might be doing something at Saïx's." Roxas thought for a moment. "You said Axel's friend, but what about Riku's."

Kairi shrugged. "Sort of. Riku is closest with Axel, but he runs with that group. I don't think he would go to Saïx's without Axel, so I guess he's probably there too."

"Dammit. Okay, well we had better definitely go quickly. I can only imagine what Sora has done to Axel."

###

"Shit." Demyx said shortly after Riku's departure. "That was..." Saïx looked up at him and gave him a look that said shut the fuck up. "Sora? Are you okay?" Sora didn't respond. He just stared off into space and his breathing grew shallow. "Shit."

Saïx grabbed for Sora's waist just as the stool slid out from under him. As Sora hyperventilated, Saïx slowly brought him to the floor, trying to calm Sora down. "Sora? Sora, you need to take deep breaths. Demyx, grab that bag." He gave it to Sora and Saïx helped him breathe into it. "It's going to be okay."

Sora shook his head and tears welled in his eyes. He sat up with a burst, stunning the two and he raced out the garage, hoping to catch up to the other two.

"Should we go after them?" Saïx asked.

"But we're alone now." Demyx whined, sliding over to Saïx. He wrapped his arms around the other boy's shoulders and kissed him. "I guess this doesn't feel right without Axel." Saïx arched his eyebrow. Demyx stammered and laughed. "I mean, the band thing, and then the Riku and Sora thing, maybe we should go find them too." Saïx nodded, but neither made a move as they had gotten comfortable again where they were.

"Axel, we've been over this." Riku said, chasing after his friend. He overcame the redhead and stepped a few paces in front of him. He raised his hands to impede the collision. "You can't outrun me. Can we talk?"

"No." Axel said gruffly. "You brought him into my life, and now everything is messed up. No more Dearly Beloved. No more of this band. You think I could possibly look Larx or Lusha in the eye knowing I got kicked out of my own band? I'd be a laughingstock. And I won't talk to those backstabbing bitches, Saïx and Demyx."

"Well then you're stuck with me, meatball." Riku said, pulling him into a hug. "I really tore into Sora, so I don't think he'll want anything to do with me either. We're all we have left." Riku smiled. Axel returned it tentatively. "There we go."

The sound of panting could be heard from behind Axel. Riku was the first to see Sora rushing up to the pair. He wanted so badly to just start yelling at the boy, but the way that Sora was doubled over, trying to catch his breath, the sound of his utter exhaustion, stirred Riku's heart. Axel turned to see the offending noise and was not overcome by the sight to wane his fury. "Get away from us!"

Sora, still catching his breath, raised a finger, an index, to signal he needed a minute. Axel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. He tapped his foot impatiently, as Sora finally stood upright. "It was a joke."

"What?" They spoke in unison. "What was a joke?" Axel asked, stopping his impatient foot.

"About getting rid of you." Sora shook his head. "I didn't mean it. Kind of funny that Demyx and Saïx were ready to ditch you though. Uh, not ha-ha funny." Sora clarified as Axel's glare sharpened. "I didn't think that would get as far as it did. I'm sorry." Axel's intense stare lightened at the apology. "Don't get too comfortable. I'm still pissed as hell at you, but if you want me, I'll join your band. You should probably get Demyx and Saïx untangled again and let me hear your sound."

Axel nodded solemnly and headed back towards Saïx's. They had only gotten a couple of blocks away, which, when Sora realized that, he vowed to start exercising more. Axel was already inside the house when Riku and Sora reached the driveway. "Sora? You haven't said anything."

Sora took a deep breath. "I really don't know what to say."

"I didn't mean..."

Sora raised his hand to stop Riku mid-sentence. "Yes you did. Otherwise you said it just to be cruel, and that would make you, well from your words, I guess that would make you me." Sora's spiked words felt like needles in Riku's ear. "I'm sorry that I'm not the little boy you grew up with. I'm sorry that I've changed, people do change from who they were as kids."

"But..."

"Don't interrupt." Sora snapped. "Nobody ever cares about what I'm feeling. You have to be a rock, Sora. You have to be strong, Sora. I need you to carry this burden, Sora. Take care of your brother. Protect him. He lost his mother. Well so did I!" Sora's voice crescendoed into a scream, but it waned as he went on. "When she started getting sick, she asked me to be the one. Dad was devastated. Roxas was and still is a child, so there I was, effectively becoming a mother. I didn't want it, and nobody asked me. It just became mine, so yeah, I had to grow up a little faster and yeah, maybe that made me someone different, but do I not deserve love that is real and meaningful and not some lie." His face started to redden and tears of anger ran down his face

Riku was caught off guard by Sora's sudden outburst, especially the last bit, and he wanted to ask "What..."

"I SAID DON'T INTERRUPT!" Riku's eyes grew wide and he took a step back. "If you don't want to be with me because I'm not the same boy I was when you abandoned me..."

"I didn't...

"I said..."

Riku ran to Sora and embraced him. He used more force than he meant to and sent them tumbling down to the ground. Riku used the momentum to turn them both, so he was the one who landed on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Are you?" Sora asked, resting his chin on Riku's chest.

"My body's a little sore, but I couldn't be better." Riku smiled. He ran his hand through Sora's spikes. "If you felt like I abandoned you, Sora, I can't tell you how sorry..."

Sora shook his head. "It's not your fault. I did feel that way though. You were my best friend, and I didn't have you anymore and it hurt."

"You have me now." Riku said.

"And it still hurts." Sora said, laying his head down. "We've grown up, Riku. If you felt half of what I felt for you when we were kids..." Sora laughed. "...we'd probably be an old married couple by now." He got off of Riku and sat down next to him. "But things change." He turned his head to Riku, who had also sat up. Sora grabbed Riku's hand, and said. "We have history, which can be a foundation, but I don't want some animalistic lust like what came over us at the party. I need to know that you can love the person I am now."

"It's still you, Sora. I'll always be able to love you." Riku said, cupping Sora's cheek.

Sora drew closer to Riku. "I want to believe you, but you have to show me."

"Can I show you now?" Their lips were nearly touching, they could feel each other's breaths, when Axel's voice rang out from the house and Sora automatically pulled away, standing up. Riku fell back in exasperation.

"Are you guys coming in, or what?" Axel asked, leaning against the doorway. Sora nodded and ran over to his possible future bandmate. "Riku? Are you coming?"

"Yeah, just a minute!" He yelled. "Can't really comfortably stand just yet." He said to himself. He had just sat up again when Roxas and Kairi arrived. "What are you two doing here?"

"Sora said he was here." Roxas answered. "He didn't do anything to Axel, did he?"

"Besides a mean joke, not really. He's in the house if you wanted to talk to him." Riku responded.

"Do you want me to come with?" Kairi asked. Roxas shook his head and headed towards the house.

"What's going on?" Riku asked, watching Roxas leave.

"He just wants to talk to Sora." Kairi responded. She sat down in the grass next to Riku. "He's been acting really weird lately."

"Yeah, but it's not all his fault. He's stressed out. He's just had to deal with a lot." Riku defended the boy.

"But he's just changed so much." Kairi countered. "He's not the same."

"Of course he has, we all have."

"Should that excuse how he's been treating us?" Kairi asked.

"No. Maybe not, but I attacked him so I feel bad." Kairi gave him a worried look. "Not physically attacked, just said some things. Maybe he deserved it."

"Probably." Kairi said. "What, don't look at me like that. He called Naminé a bitch."

"What was she doing?" Riku asked.

Kairi scoffed and pushed Riku. "That's not the point. And because she was telling him that he was pushing everyone away with his actions. Which he is."

There was silence after that. Riku didn't want to agree, because he sympathized with Sora. Life was wearing him down. Although, Kairi had a point. Riku did eventually break the silence. "I don't think he's intentionally trying to push us away."

At that moment, Roxas came rushing out of Saïx's house. He hurried past the two without a word. "Roxas?!" Kairi called out. He didn't bother looking back. "What happened?"

Riku shrugged. "Wanna find out?"

"You go inside, I'll check on Roxas." Kairi stood up and chased after the boy.

Riku slowly rose to his feet and made his way back into Saïx's. In the living room, Saïx and Demyx were sitting where there instruments. "Why did Roxas storm out of here?"

"The blond?" Saïx asked. "He and Sora got into an argument."

"About?"

Saïx and Demyx explained what had happened when Roxas came into the house.

Axel had just finished singing. The three had played Dearly Beloved's song Sanctuary for Sora.

"What did you think?" Axel asked hopeful. He wanted to put the hard feelings aside in hopes of forming a kick-ass band to show up Larxene.

On the inside, Sora was incredibly impressed. He had heard them at the party and because of Roxas' constant playing, but this seemed so much better. He didn't want to show his hand, though. "I've heard worse."

Axel frowned. "Maybe we should try something else." He didn't think he should have to try so hard to impress the boy.

Axel told the others to play Tear You Apart, a song they covered frequently. They nodded. Sora thought the song was a better choice for them. It had a darker sound to it. Sanctuary was too upbeat.

Roxas had come in the house during the chorus, but nobody had noticed.

"I want to hold you close. Soft breath, beating heart as I whisper in your ear 'I want to fucking tear you apart.'' Axel sang. His gaze bore into Sora, who blushed at the lyrics.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked, his voice only barely audible over the music. They stopped playing and turned to the boy.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked. "I didn't think you were gonna come find me."

"I could ask you the same thing." Roxas crossed his arms. "Why are you getting your own little show?"

"They want me to join their new band." Sora answered. "They need a drummer. I just wanted to hear what kind of stuff they did."

"You should know. I listen to them all the time, you know. Once again, they play and you just forget how much I like them." Roxas scowled.

"This just sort of happened. Riku had to open his mouth that I knew how to drum." Sora said. "I wasn't even thinking about you."

Roxas scoffed. "What else is new?"

"That isn't fair." Sora said.

"You literally were ready to castrate this guy, but now you're gonna join his band?" Roxas shook his head.

"Please don't castrate me." Axel interjected with a look of dismay. Sora laughed. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"You're such a hypocrite, Sora." Roxas said. "Naminé and Kairi were right."

That got under Sora's skin. "Everyone is so quick to take a side against me. I am just trying my best to do what's best for you."

"I don't want your help. I can take care of myself." Roxas said.

"I never said you couldn't. But I'm trying to protect you. Why can't you believe that I know what I'm talking about?" Sora asked

"I don't need your protection!" Roxas yelled.

"It's what mom wanted." Sora said standing up and getting closer to Roxas.

Roxas recoiled. "Don't use mom as an excuse to be a shitty brother." Sora's jaw dropped. He turned away and walked out of the room heading towards the garage. "Sure, just walk away, Sora. I'm sure that's what mom would have done too." He looked at the three remaining. "Sora ruins everything. Just a head's up." He turned and left the house.

"Axel went to the garage just after Roxas left." Saïx said finishing his recap of the fight between the brothers. "I imagine they're both still there."

"I should probably make sure Sora's okay then." Riku said, heading to the garage.

###

"Are you alright?"

"No."

"Roxas, what happened?" Kairi asked finally catching up to the younger blond.

"If I'm going to have to explain it, I might as well wait until we get back to the alley." Roxas said. Kairi nodded. There was silence as they walked, neither had anything to say.

They returned to Xion and Naminé about ten minutes later. Hayner and Olette had joined them. "Hey, guys." Xion greeted them. "We were just getting these two caught up on the drama. So? Did you two work it out, or are we going to have to do something about the 'Sora Problem?'" She used air quotes around the last two words.

Roxas sighed and spoke. "Yeah." Xion and Naminé frowned. They were hoping that the problem would have been fixed; they didn't want to have to deal with Sora as if he really was a problem.

"What happened?" Naminé asked as Kairi sat down between her and Xion. "Who said what?"

"It's not even what he said; it's this whole trying to be my mother thing. He claims mom wanted him to protect me, but from what? Axel? But that doesn't stop Sora from being at that guy Saïx's place with Axel, nor does it stop him from letting Axel sing a really sexual song at him. He had this look on his face. I've seen it before. He had it when I interrupted him and Riku, he had it during this men's beach volleyball tournament we went to, and he had it when Axel sang to him. Just pure lust. He doesn't want to protect me; he just wants Axel to himself. God forbid someone shows interest in me."

"You think he's being an ass because of jealousy?" Xion asked.

"And he calls it protecting." Naminé added.

"And then to top it all off, he's joining their new band as a drummer." Roxas said.

"I had forgotten he did that." Kairi said. "So what do you think we can do about him?"

Roxas shrugged. He looked to the wall. "This is a start." He went over and tore the Dearly Beloved poster down, ripping it to shreds. "No more Dearly Beloved, no more Axel, and no more Sora. New home, new start, new life."

"But Sora's your brother." Xion said. "You can't just ignore him. Plus, you share a bedroom."

"Be that as it may, I'll make it work. When school starts, I'll probably never see him. He'll have his band, and I'll have you guys. I don't need him." Roxas said.

"I don't want to ignore him." Kairi said. "He's still my friend. I want him to stop being so jerky though."

"You can still be his friend." Roxas said. "I just don't want to be his."

"He's family though, and I don't want to choose sides." Xion said.

"I'm telling you that you don't have to." Roxas said. "I'm the only one who should have a problem with my brother."

"That isn't true." Came a voice from the entrance.

###

"Hey, you okay?" Sora looked up at the redhead approaching him. He kept a steady beat on the drum that he was mindlessly playing.

"You don't have to care." Sora said. "We're not friends, Axhole. I just have talent that you don't have." He smirked.

"I'm going to hurt Saïx for giving you that name idea." Axel laughed, but quickly changed to a serious countenance. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot, but I don't want to not be friends with you, especially if we're doing this band thing together. I don't need you to be like Larxene and not-so-secretly hate me."

"I suppose. I just wish I hadn't found you in bed with my naked brother on top of you." Sora said. "Makes it hard to like you."

"I can't say I wish it hadn't happened, but maybe not the way it did." Axel said.

Sora set the drumsticks down and stood up. "Why did you?"

"It was...it wasn't like I planned it. Teenage horniness, I guess. Your brother's hot, but I guess that's a familial trait." Sora blushed. "I'm sorry."

"I guess maybe I overreacted a little. I just don't want Roxas to be in a compromising situation. It doesn't help that..." Sora trailed off.

Axel drifted closer to Sora. "What?"

Sora came around from the other side of the drum kit. "A boy I used to know. You just remind me of him. Not in your appearance really, but the energy that you exude."

"Is it a bad thing?" Axel asked.

"He hurt me, and I didn't want someone like him to get near my brother." Sora said.

Axel placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. "I would have never hurt you."

Sora swallowed hard. "You you mean Roxas. You wouldn't have hurt...Roxas."

Sora didn't mean to kiss Axel. Maybe he had been the one kissed. But somehow there they were, joined at the lips. It wasn't a fervent kiss, but somewhere in its shyness, there was passion.

A shadow passed their vision and they broke their kiss.

They both blushed. "I didn't mean for that to happen." Axel said.

"Teenage horniness?" Sora asked.

"No, not this time." He stroked Sora's cheek. "I think there was something different, but I can't quite figure it out."

A shy smile gave way to him simpering, and then he spoke. "Maybe we should keep trying until we figure out what it was."


	6. Summers

Sora sat at the kitchen table enjoying a sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly, his favorite, and his mother knew just how he liked it: strawberry jelly and crunchy peanut butter on white bread without the crust and cut diagonally. He ate it quickly, as if he had been starving. When there were only crumbs left on the plate, he brought it to the sink. There were still some dishes from breakfast, so Sora washed them up quickly and left them to dry. It was one less thing his mother had to do, he had thought as he placed the last plate on the drying rack.

It was just before noon, so he ran upstairs to wake his brother. During the summer, Sora didn't kick the usual routine. He still woke up early, and went to bed at a decent time. Roxas was not the same. It was enough of a hassle for Sora to get him out of bed during the school year, but waking Roxas up for anything before noon was short of impossible.

He shook his brother awake. Roxas thrashed his arms wildly at the intruder rustling him from sleep. Sora had to duck to save himself from the assault. Then Sora ripped the covers off his brother, who was only wearing his boxers. Roxas shivered slightly at the sudden lack of warmth. He moaned in discomfort, trying to reach for the blanket with closed eyes, but finding nothing, as Sora had thrown the covers down to the ground, out of Roxas' reach.

On a normal summer day, Sora would let Roxas sleep until he woke himself up, but this wasn't the case today. Sora wanted to go to the beach, but he didn't want to go alone, and Roxas was one of the only people he talked to anymore.

The previous summer he had his two best friends. That summer could have been a turning point in Riku and Sora's relationship, and there were some days that it didn't seem like there was anything stopping either of them from making a move on the other. At least until Riku's parents announced that they were moving.

Rinoa, Riku's mother, missed the hustle and bustle of city living, so she had been looking for jobs in several metropolitan areas. Her best offer was from Twilight High as a vice principal. At dinner one night, she shared the news with her son and, since he had stayed for dinner that night, Sora. Riku was distraught; he didn't finish his dinner before excusing himself from the table.

Sora followed his friend. He entered Riku's room. Riku was staring up at the ceiling, unblinking, as silent tears streamed down his face. Sora didn't know what to say. He couldn't make it better, he knew that. Riku was leaving, and it hurt; it hurt them both. Sora walked over and lay down next to his friend. He put his arm across Riku's chest and when he felt Riku's arms against his back, embracing him, he could feel his own tears coming.

In other circumstances, that embrace could have led to more between the two. It could have felt like a beginning instead of an end, but knowing that Riku was leaving, and that he may never see him again, it became hard for the two to be around each other. During Riku's last two months on the island, they found themselves making excuses. Riku had to help pack up the house. Sora had to stay home and watch Roxas. Neither one of them made time for each other.

The day Riku had left, Sora stayed in bed. He didn't want to say goodbye, because he didn't want it to be the end. Kairi had shown up at his bedroom door, and she urged him to see Riku off. Sora waved her away, but she wasn't going to let him make this mistake. She physically pulled him up out of bed. She told him that he would regret it if he didn't say goodbye.

After Kairi literally shook some sense into him, he agreed. He realized that if he didn't hurry, he would never make it in time. He quickly threw on a red t-shirt and yellow cargo shorts and rushed downstairs and out his front door. He was worried that he had waited too long and that they would be gone. He hadn't paid attention to what was in front of him, as he was too preoccupied with his worry, so he didn't see Riku on his doorstep until they had collided. Riku was caught off guard, but he kept them both upright by swinging Sora around to maintain balance.

They stared into each other's eyes, maybe for longer than they realized. Sora wanted so badly to burst. He wanted to let Riku know how much he loved him, and how he couldn't leave him, and how he needed to kiss him, but if he did, he would never let go. He resigned himself to hold him tightly. Riku felt safe to Sora. It wasn't until Leon came up to the boys that they let go. They said goodbye, and in an instant, Riku was gone.

Over the next few months, Kairi had become Sora's confidante, and he told her everything he wished he could have told Riku. Besides Roxas, Kairi was Sora's closest friend, so when she told him about her mother getting a job at a hospital in Radiant Garden, a small town near Twilight Town, Sora was inconsolable. Kairi had waited until the day before to tell Sora, because she didn't want the time they had left together to be marred with the knowledge she was leaving, she had seen the strain it caused him and Riku

When Kairi left, Sora made her promise not to breathe a word to Riku about what he had told her, and she obliged because she would be a bad friend if she hadn't. Sora became withdrawn at school without Riku and Kairi. He didn't play any sports or join any clubs. He rarely participated in class, unless absolutely necessary, and opted to do group assignments alone.

Now that school was over with for the year, Sora was ready to spend some time at the beach. If only Roxas would wake up. After leaving him exposed to the open air, Sora wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist and lifted him off the bed. Roxas was taken by surprised, so he grabbed his pillow and started hitting Sora in the head. The brunet dropped his brother, only for Roxas to continue his assault until Sora had crossed the bedroom's threshold. Roxas then slammed his door shut, gathered up his blanket and pillow and went back to bed.

Sora knew when to quit, so with a sigh he returned downstairs, where his mother was watching her favorite soap opera, Chain of Memories. Sora would watch it with his mother on the days he stayed home sick, or when it wasn't good weather to play outside. He liked the show too, but he watched it sparingly so he couldn't keep up with the plot. Everyone was getting amnesia, recovering from amnesia, or exploiting somebody else's amnesia, usually with sexy results.

So Sora curled up next to his mom and watched the show. Sora had always been closer to his mom than his dad, as Roxas had been the reverse. Of course, Tifa Strife didn't mind, she loved her babies and loved that Sora still loved her back. She heard of children becoming distant from their parents, and was worried that would happen to her, but Sora and Roxas were good boys, and she loved them so much.

So it wasn't that she minded Sora's company that afternoon, but she knew it wasn't like him. It was a gorgeous day, and Sora had no business cooping himself up inside. She asked him why he wasn't outside playing and he sighed. Tifa began stroking his spiked hair. He explained that Roxas wouldn't get out of bed, and without him or Riku or Kairi, it just didn't seem as much fun to be outside.

Tifa waited for a commercial break and then turned to Sora. She told him all sorts of nice things that amounted to that fact that he was a great person and all he needed to do was get out on the beach and find a friend. Sora smiled at his mother and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He ran upstairs to change into yellow swimming trunks and his favorite red shirt, the one he hugged goodbye to Riku in, and grabbed a towel before running out the door. Tifa smiled at Sora's exuberance, and turned back to her show, just in time for the commercials to end.

Sora's sense of excitement waned as he approached the beach, where he realized he was alone. He frowned. He thought of going home, but decided his mom would be disappointed if he came back immediately. He waded out into the water, but decided he didn't really want to swim. He walked though the sand; he enjoyed the sensation of it between his toes. He hadn't walked on the beach in a long time. He missed the salty air and the cool sea breeze. He decided to go up to the bent tree where he, Riku and Kairi used to play.

Sora sat upon the tree gazing out into the vast sea. It was pristine, no boats, no land, nothing but deep blue sea out to where it met the light blue horizon. It was always a beautiful sight to behold, but it made him miss his friends dearly. He was trapped in memory until a loud voice knocked him out of his reverie. He had been so startled he fell backwards off of the tree. He could hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching, but the sun was so high in the sky that when he opened his eyes he was blinded by it.

He tried to block out the sun to see who was at his side, and perhaps it was a trick of the light, but he swore it was Riku standing there, and he quickly got to his feet, letting out a whisper of his name. He had been mistaken, which he should have known better than to think Riku would ever be able to surprise him with a visit to the island. The silver hair he thought he saw had changed to white, the skin had tanned and the seafoam eyes had blinked and became yellow.

"Are you okay?" The older teen asked. Sora shrugged, looking down embarrassed for his own confusion. "Well, I'll take that as yes. Sorry to have startled you, but I called out to you a few times. Didn't get your attention until I screamed at you though." He laughed. "I can't believe you actually fell out of my tree." Sora looked up at him with a puzzled look. "Yeah, this is my tree." Sora wanted to say something, but thought better, he didn't need to start fights with boys so much older than him. Sora slumped his shoulders, defeated and started to walk away. "Hey, kid!" Sora turned around. "What's your name?" Sora squeaked out his name. "Sora, huh. Mine's Xehanort." Sora nodded, but turned back around. "Hey! Sora!" Xehanort yelled again. Again, Sora turned around. "Come here." Sora obliged albeit reluctantly. "Join me."

Xehanort hopped onto the tree and held out his hand. Sora looked from the outstretched hand, to Xehanort's face, and back to the hand. He was reluctant. What reason would an older boy have to take an interest in him, he wondered. He relented though, and grabbed the hand. He clutched Xehanort's forearm, the muscles tensed under Sora's hand as he was easily lifted up to the older boy's both turned to the ocean. In silence, they stared out into the vastness.

Sora began to fidget; he played with the hem of his shirt, trying to make use of his hands. He looked down at them, avoiding the yellow eyes he knew were currently staring at him. He wondered how long he could make his red shirt the most interesting thing in the world, and a believable reason to be staring at it. "Are you always so shy?" Turns out not very long. Sora didn't say anything, still staring down intently. "You don't have to be, I'm not going to bite." Was the shirt always such a light red? Did it fade from too many washes? He did wear it a lot. It reminded him of Riku after all. Riku. "Unless you want me to." Xehanort whispered into Sora's ear.

In an instant, Sora's body went into hormonal overdrive. His face turned red, his eyes grew wide, his stomach knotted, and he started to sweat. There was a stirring in his loins that he hadn't felt since...Riku. The thought of Riku did nothing to ebb his body going haywire. He felt dizzy and shot his hands out to grip the tree trunk, fearing another fall. Xehanort noticed this and put his hand on the small of Sora's back to steady him, but that didn't help as Sora leapt off the tree, as though the touch burned him.

Sora had collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily, a mix of desire and fear and embarrassment waving throughout his body, like the sea around him crashing on the shores. He wished the sea would send a wave to him now to wash him away in this moment.

"Do you always fall so much?" Xehanort asked, jumping down to Sora's side. He helped Sora up, who muttered his thanks. Xehanort helped him brush the sand off his back. Sora's already embarrassed blush intensified from the touch. "Wanna swim?" Xehanort asked. He peeled off the teal t-shirt he had on, leaving just a pair of steel colored shorts. Sora turned away quickly. He felt hot and if he could see his face, it would surely be redder than his shirt by now. "Come on, Sora!" Xehanort jumped off the edge of the islet into the water.

Sora hesitated, but the sound of Xehanort's voice drew him into the water. He jumped in with a large splash. He quickly sank to the bottom; he used the sea floor to propel himself back up to the surface, where he found himself next to Xehanort. There was virtually no space between the two, and what space had been there was quickly closed by Xehanort.

Sora lost his breath as Xehanort kissed him. He placed his hands on Xehanort's chest, perhaps to push him away, but he immediately succumbed to lust as he felt the strong pectoral muscles. Sora felt an arm wrap around his waist as Xehanort started to propel them both towards the rocky side of the islet. Against it, Xehanort held Sora and deepened the kiss. He nibbled on Sora's lip, a gentle gasp from the brunet allowed Xehanort to snake his tongue around Sora's.

Soon, Xehanort released the kiss, as they both needed to catch their breath.

"What was that?" Sora asked, panting. He felt weak and kept himself above water by holding onto the other boy's shoulders.

"That was a kiss." Xehanort responded. Sora frowned. "Did you not like it?"

"No it wasn't that, I just don't understand why. I'm just a kid."

"I'm only eighteen."

"I'm only fourteen." Sora replied. "Can't you get in trouble if we get caught?"

Xehanort chuckled. "I don't intend on getting caught. Besides that, I'm not gonna have sex with you. Not here anyway." Xehanort turned the boy around and pressed himself against the boy's back. "But I could if you want me to."

Again, Sora felt a mix of desire and fear, but with much more fear this time. Xehanort began to kiss along Sora's neck and the young boy whimpered.

"Why are you here alone? You used to come with a boy and girl all the time."

The worry that Sora should have felt about this strange older boy knowing something about him subsided as Xehanort nibbled on his ear. Sora inwardly moaned. "They don't live on the islands anymore. I wasn't going to come here alone, but my brother wouldn't wake up and my mother insisted I come out here and see if I can make a new friend."

"Well it seems like you've done just that." Xehanort said smiling. He turned Sora back around to face him. "I'm glad you came out today."

Sora smiled shyly and blushed. "Me too. I just don't know why, why me?"

"Why not you?" Xehanort countered.

Sora shook his head. "There must be better people than me."

"Not that I've seen. I came out here a lot last year; you were so bright when you would play with your friends. You rivaled the sun in those days. I would watch. You're a beautiful person, Sora. But you haven't been as bright. I have seen you walking around town, I assume home from school, and your light is dim. When I saw you today, I had to finally talk to you. I want to rekindle your light."

Sora was flattered by the compliments. Nobody, except maybe his mother, had ever called him beautiful before. The man before him, who said all the right things, and was so handsome, captivated him. Sora couldn't think clearly in his presence. "How will you?"

Xehanort leaned forward and kissed Sora, gently, sweetly. "I was thinking something like that to start, until I figure out a better way"

Sora grinned, "Well, that's a start. Let's keep trying that until we figure out another way."

#########

Sora recoiled from Axel, with whom he had been engaged in a kiss. They were still in the garage, continuing their make out session after the first kiss. Sora furrowed his brow, and looked hard at Axel, who was confused about the sudden break in the lip-on-lip action. "What's wrong?"

Sora couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Have you ever experienced déjà vu? Because that's what I'm feeling right now, but I don't know why. We've never done this before have we?"

Axel chuckled. "Up until a minute ago, I have been wary about you killing me. Honestly, still a little wary, so no, we've never done this before."

"This isn't right. I shouldn't have kissed you. I don't understand why I would kiss someone like you…" Sora slowly connected the dots in his head. He was beginning to understand his sudden attraction to Axel and why it felt like déjà vu. "I can't really explain anything, and I'm sorry for, well, everything, I guess. Listen, I have to go…I need to talk to Riku and Roxas too. Can we say clean slate? I won't be mad at you about Roxas, and I will be in the band, and we kind of let this, whatever this was, go?"

Sora didn't wait for a response before letting himself out of the garage and heading out to the Usual Spot, leaving Axel confused.

Saïx walked into the doorway a few moments later. "Where did he run off to?"

Axel shrugged. "To find Riku, I think."

Saïx nodded knowingly. "Probably a good idea considering how quickly he bolted out of here a few minutes ago." Axel blanched. "You didn't know he was here?" Saïx grinned. "What happened?"

"He must have seen me and Sora kissing." Axel said.

"You what?!" Demyx said from behind the blue-haired boy. "How did that happen?"

Axel shrugged again. "It just did. I don't think Sora's all there. One minute he wants to literally emasculate me, and now he wants to start off clean. I'm not on the hook for what happened with Roxas anymore."

"Does that mean you can pursue him now?" Demyx asked.

"I better not push it. Sora could snap and change his mind." Axel sighed. "If he wasn't such a good drummer, I wouldn't have this headache."

"Or if you were nicer to Larxene" Demyx added.

Axel pursed his lips and glared at the blond. "Or if I never started this fucking band in the first place."

"It's gonna be great now, just wait and see." Demyx smiled.

At the usual spot, Riku told the group about what he saw in Saïx's garage. Hayner and Olette held neutral feelings, so they chose to stay quiet as the others chimed in with their various opinions on the subject of Sora.

"This is what I was talking about." Naminé said. "He's trying to push everyone away, and for what?"

"Well I thought it was just to keep him and Roxas separate from everyone else, but that doesn't make sense now." Kairi said.

"Why would he kiss Axel?" Xion asked. "I thought he didn't like him."

Roxas huffed. "It was just a lie. He wanted Axel for himself. He just wants to see me miserable, and take anything I could potentially have away."

"We were literally just talking about how I had to show him I could love him." He sat down on a crate and put his face in his hands. "Then he turns around and I see him with my best friend. Axel should know better, when I knew you guys were moving, I didn't shut up about how excited I was and how much Sora meant to me." Riku quickly stood up and kicked the crate, causing it to crash into the wall and break. Xion and Olette screamed in surprise. "Sorry. I'm just frustrated. I'm gonna go home. Don't be surprised if you don't see me until school starts."

"Riku, wait!" Kairi called out and chased after her friend. There was a silence left as the two ran out of the alley. Roxas was still pissed off, Xion and Naminé looked sad, and Hayner and Olette looked confused, unsure of this mess of drama caused by the new brothers in town.

"School's still a week away; do you think he'll really hide out at home until then?" Xion asked. The others shrugged. "Maybe we can give Sora an intervention. Sit down and talk with him. It can just be us. No Axel or his band."

"No, Xion, I don't think we can. Not because of inability, I just do not care. He's not my mother and he doesn't want to just be my brother, so I'm washing my hands of him. I'll see you at home."

"Can I tag along?" Naminé asked. Roxas nodded. "You can report to Kairi that I'm making friends." She yelled back to Xion as they left the Usual Spot.

"So much drama." Olette said. Xion rolled her eyes. "No it's fun. I mean, it's not directly affecting me."

"Yet. These things tend to be pretty far reaching." Xion responded.

"How far reaching could it be?" Hayner asked.

"In less than a week since they've been here, Axel's band broke up, he's made out with both Strife brothers, one of whom was almost dating Riku. Both he and Kairi are super close to Sora,and both Strifes are not only my cousins, but they are living with me. They have affected a lot of people in a short amount of time."

"If they bring this level of dramatics with to school..." Olette's eyes got wide. "This is going to be the most entertaining year of school ever. What a way to start off high school."

"Can we be just a little less enthusiastic about our friends' misery?" Xion asked.

"I wouldn't call either of them friends." Hayner said. "We just met Roxas since he was MIA from his own party, and we only just met Sora and Riku at said party."

"That doesn't mean…" Loud panting cut off Xion. "Sora?"

He was doubled over in a familiar position. He raised his index finger again asking for a moment. When he composed himself, he said. "Damn, I need to get into shape. Where is everybody, Xion?"

Xion sighed. "As far as you're concerned, this may be everyone." Sora gave her a puzzled look. "Kairi is with Riku, who is pissed about finding you with Axel, which we will come back to, and Roxas is with Naminé, and he's pissed about your fight at Saïx's as well as Riku finding you with Axel, as well as whatever else you've been doing to upset him."

"I'm not trying to upset him. Or anyone." Sora snapped back. "I came here wanting to apologize, though. I didn't mean to kiss Axel. It just sort of happened."

"Like it just sort of happened with Roxas? You can't be too upset if now they're overreacting like you did." Xion said.

"That's why I have to apologize about this whole mess. Where are they?" Sora asked.

"They're both at home, or at least heading there." Xion said. "I honestly don't know if it would be prudent to go to either of them just now."

"But…" Xion held up a hand to silence him, and then patted on the couch to invite him to sit.

"Kairi is playing neutral, or at least she's going to try. She will probably calm Riku down some. Wait for that to happen. He's pretty upset. He may become a recluse until school starts. Wait until at least then." Sora nodded. "As for Roxas, I don't know him as well as Riku, but he's just as angry and is ready to cut you out of his life completely."

"What?" Sora asked. His eyes shifted to Hayner and Olette and they nodded.

"He basically said he doesn't want anything to do with you or Axel and the move can mean a fresh start." Hayner said.

"I can't lose him." Sora said, holding back tears. He rose up to rush home, but Xion pulled on his shirt causing him to fall back into the couch. "I need to…"

"What you need to do is listen. Roxas is currently with Naminé, who, since you called her a bitch, isn't terribly fond of you."

"You called her a bitch?" Olette asked showing disdain.

"Well maybe she was acting bitchy." Hayner said. Olette punched him in the arm. "What?"

"So maybe going to confront Roxas can wait until she's not with him. She's a smart girl and if Roxas is talking bad of you, twisting your apology would be something Naminé does if it makes Roxas want to cut you off."

"You can come with and help me then?" Sora asked, hopeful. Xion shook her head. "Why not?"

"I'm family, and we are living together. I'm not going to pick a side if this thing goes nuclear." Xion said.

"But you can help me keep it from becoming a big fight" Sora said. "That's why I need to talk to them, so things don't get worse. If Naminé is just going to fan the flames of Roxas' anger..."

"That's not what she's going to do." Xion cut him off. "Naminé and Roxas are becoming friends and so she doesn't want to see him get hurt and from her...our...basically everybody's position, you're kind of hurting him...and Riku." Xion said.

Sora frowned and in a small voice said. "I'm not trying to."

"So you must be really good at pissing people off if you can do it without trying." Sora groaned. "Listen, I've said my piece. I gave you my advice. You can do with it what you will." Xion shrugged. "As long as I don't get sucked into this vortex of drama, I'm staying out of it."

Sora nodded. "I'm going to go talk to Riku." Without a second thought, he bounded out of the Usual Spot.

Xion just shook her head as she watched her cousin walk away. "He's so hardheaded." She said aloud. "It must be a Strife thing."

Sora stood at the driveway to Riku's house. The facade looked very similar to his home. He hadn't yet acclimated himself to the sameness of Twilight Town yet. On the islands, there was variety, but not here. He took a breath and made his way to the front door. He pushed the doorbell; he heard the faint ring inside the house. It hit him pretty fast how awkward that was. He and Riku were basically family. He always just let himself into the Leonheart home as if it were his own. When Rinoa or Leon were there, they treated him like their own. Now he felt like a stranger of sorts.

Rinoa opened the door. She may have squealed just a bit at the sight of the oldest Strife son. "Sora, oh my goodness, look at you." She hugged him tightly. "I've missed you boys. Riku has been so excited about your moving here. It's a shame how busy we've been; Leon and I just haven't had a free moment to welcome you to town." Sora reciprocated the hug. He missed the warmness of a mother's embrace. There was a great comfort in Rinoa. When they let go, Rinoa beamed at Sora, a bright smile that made Sora feel at home. "Riku's upstairs with Kairi. His room is the first on the right. I'll be down here if you kids need anything."

"Thanks Mrs. Leonheart."

Rinoa's bright countenance faltered for a moment. "You used to call me mom." She said aloud, but she hadn't meant to. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sora. You don't have to, if it's uncomfortable. I'm so sorry about Tifa. I regret that we couldn't be there for the funeral. Mrs. Leonheart is just fine."

Sora went back to Rinoa and hugged her again. "No, mom is good. It's just been so long, I wasn't sure if it would have been weird."

A sad smile flashed across Rinoa's face. "You will always be like a son to me, Sora." She caressed his cheek. "No matter what, and no matter where you go, and no matter what you do." She kissed his forehead. She chuckled a little as she wiped a tear away. "Now you go run upstairs and see your friend."

Sora nodded and started up the stairs. On the staircase's wall were pictures of the Leonhearts. Near the top was a picture of Riku and Sora, probably around eleven years old. They were hanging upside down on the bent tree. He stared at the picture for a long time. _Why did we have to grow up? What happened to the days before...before we fell in love?_

He proceeded up the stairs. Behind the first door on the right, he could hear the faint voices of his friends. He had to take a deep breath again. How angry was Riku right now? Would Riku forgive him? Could he forgive Riku? He was so quick to judge Sora for not being the same anymore, but how could he possibly be unchanged? From the cruelest summer where his heart was shattered to the death of his mother, he was allowed to be emotional, wasn't he?

He broke free from his thoughts and timidly knocked on the door. "Who's there?" Riku called out. Sora responded. There was a frantic murmuring between Kairi and Riku. All Sora could make out was an exasperated "Fine!" from Riku, just before the door opened. Before him, the silver-haired boy stood. His arms crossed across his chest and Sora stood staring into the pale eyes. The anger and pain was so vivid in those eyes.

Sora couldn't speak. He couldn't do it. He had to run. He just wouldn't look back. No more Riku. There would be other boys. Axel seemed to like him, right? Eventually Kairi would choose Riku's side. Roxas and Xion and Naminé too. But he would have the band and school. There were many other kids. Plus, there were only two more years, then he would go off to college, or maybe go on tour. He could be a successful musician. He had childhood fantasies about it, that's why he learned the drums, and the piano; he could sing too, but perhaps not as well as Axel. He could just run.

Riku grew impatient; the younger boy hadn't said anything for what seemed like eternity. "What do you want, Sora?" Riku's eyes traced across Sora's face, which had gone from a wide-eyed look of fear to one of thoughtful contemplation.

What did he want?

Sora found himself moving forward with a purpose that caused Riku to walk backward in step with Sora. Without removing his gaze from Riku's perplexed face, Sora said, "Kairi, could you..."

"Yeah." Kairi said quickly. "Naminé..."

"Is at my place with Roxas, maybe Xion now too." Sora said, his eyes still affixed to Riku's face. "Maybe see how much Roxas hates me right now." Kairi nodded, even though Sora wasn't paying attention and quickly exited the bedroom.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Riku asked keeping his eyes locked on the brunet. Despite Sora's smaller stature, Riku was feeling imposed upon by the younger boy.

"I don't know." Sora responded.

Riku was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said." Sora snapped at him. "I threw a party for my brother to help him make friends, but that backfired. Beyond that, his favorite band broke up after it, which of course is my fault. I get pissed that an older guy is getting sexual with my little brother while he is naked, but I shouldn't have been upset, of course. I end up joining his band, and because he reminds me of someone horrible, I end up in a compromising position, that you wind up witnessing. It was a mistake, but I don't get to make mistakes because I have to be perfect for some reason, so I have no idea what I'm doing anymore because now you hate me. Roxas hates me. Kairi and Xion are tiptoeing around because they don't want anything worse to happen.

"Sora, I don't hate you." Riku put his hands on Sora's shoulders. "I'm angry, yes, but why would you think I hate you?"

Sora closed his eyes tight. He spoke softly, choking back the emotions he was harboring. "Because..." He took a deep breath. "If you don't hate me, I won't be able to stop it."

"Stop what?" Riku asked. He got his answer as Sora stepped forward and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss, quick, but meaningful. Sora couldn't hold himself back any longer and held onto Riku tightly. They both fell backwards into his bed. Sora started to cry. Riku started to stroke Sora's head. "It's okay."

Sora rose up quickly. "No it's not!" He screamed. "I'm fucked up. It's all fucked up. This isn't how it's supposed to be. I would rather drown in the sea tonight than suffocate in this unknown place. This isn't home. I just want my mom, Riku. It's so stupid, but I need my mom." Sora had sunk to the floor and Riku quickly dropped down to hold him. "I just don't want to be strong anymore."

"You're not a weak person, Sora, but sometimes, just let someone help you." Riku said, hugging Sora tightly. "It's all going to be alright."

"Will you forgive me?" Sora said into Riku's chest.

Riku kissed Sora's cheeks and wiped away the tears. "Yes." He said. "But no more kissing Axel." Sora laughed and Riku smiled at the sound.

"You're the only one I want, Riku." Sora said. "I love you. I only wish I told you sooner. You're the only person I've ever loved."

###

Saïx ended his call and put the phone back in his pocket. "Hey, my brother's on his way home, so do you guys think you can help me clean up?" The three had migrated back to the living room where pizza boxes and soda cans had littered the tables.

Axel laughed derisively. "And risk seeing him, no, I'm good." He made his way to the door. Saïx glared at Axel, who had turned around. Behind Saïx, Demyx was silently begging for a way out. "Well, Demyx are you coming?"

Saïx furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean? Demyx, you're not going to leave me here to do this all by myself." Saïx turned to the blond and put on his best rendition of puppy dog eyes.

"Saïx, he's my ride." Axel said.

"Just walk." Saïx retorted.

"I live in Radiant Garden. That'd take me about an hour to walk home."

Saïx shrugged. "You can stay and help me clean up, and then you can both be on your way."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm out." He left the house, closing the door a little harder than necessary.

"Saïx." Demyx whined. "I don't want him walking all the way home. It's going to be dark out soon. He could get attacked."

"We couldn't be that lucky." Demyx slapped Saïx's shoulder. "I'm kidding, babe." Demyx instantly melted at the pet name. "I just need the house to look nice. Then you can go and find Axel and drive him home. It really won't take long."

"Yeah, but by the time we're finished, I'll just want to cuddle up and do nothing." Demyx said, wrapping his arms around Saïx's neck.

"Well I'm not going to say no to that." Saïx said, leaning in to kiss Demyx. "Guess Axel will just fend for himself." Demyx nodded in agreement.

###

"Why are all my friends assholes?" Axel pondered aloud as he walked the streets in the direction of his home. The sun was setting and it was starting to get cooler. He started to shiver. He left his robe at Saïx's and he was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Suddenly it started to rain. "Oh, well fuck me." Axel started to sprint. After he had expended all his energy, he found himself in a familiar neighborhood. "Hmm. Well what's the worst that could happen?" He quickly found the house he was looking for and ran up to the door, knocking loudly. "Hey." He greeted the boy opening the door.

"Axel?" Roxas asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh just in the neighborhood. What about you?"

Roxas blinked a few times. "I live here."

"Good point." Axel chuckled. "Well, wanna invite me in? It's cold and rainy and I'm a few miles from home."

"Sora's not here." Roxas said.

"What..."

"Riku caught you with Sora, so don't play dumb." Roxas said, leaning against the doorjamb.

"I…"

"It's just like Sora to keep me from something I like." Roxas said.

"You like me?" Axel asked with a smirk.

"Don't read too much into it." Roxas caught himself smiling a little. "What about Sora?"

Axel shook his head. "It wasn't anything. He kissed me, and then got weird. He was talking vaguely about me reminding him of someone and then went to look for Riku."

"You didn't want it?" Roxas asked standing up from the doorjamb.

"I liked the attention. I was into it, but I may have been thinking of you." Axel said. "Can I have a chance to get to know you?"

Roxas rubbed his chin. "I dunno. Do I have to worry about you getting to know Sora better?"

"Not at all. We are strictly bandmates."

Roxas frowned. "He's really going to be your drummer."

"I don't have a choice, really. Demyx and Saïx are willing to ditch me for him, and I'm not giving up on singing yet."

"Okay. I guess you can come inside. Maybe sing me a song like you sang Sora." Roxas took Axel's hand and led him into the house.


	7. The First Day

It's taken longer than I meant to update. I have two chapters tho, so that's something. Usual stuff, read, review, follow.

"Leave me alone."

The face of Roxas flashed in Sora's mind, just before he jerked awake. The unfamiliar sound of Riku's alarm blasted in his ears. He reached over to shut it off. His body's shifting moved the blanket covering the two boys, and in protest, Riku wrapped his arms around Sora, pulling him close to absorb his warmth. Sora giggled as Riku nuzzled against Sora's neck, tickling him with his bangs. Sora rolled over to face the other. "Good morning." Sora whispered, and then kissed Riku's nose. "Time to wake up."

Riku grunted something unintelligible. He pulled the covers back over himself and Sora. He muttered again, quietly. Sora was about to ask him what he said, when he heard soft snoring. Sora's reaction to that was not pleasant for Riku. He ripped the covers away and jumped up onto Riku, straddling him. Riku screamed. "Whuhthuhell?" He asked still half asleep.

"We have to get ready for school." Sora said. Riku had attempted to push Sora off of him, but Sora held Riku's hands down. Riku, still groggy, couldn't put up much of a fight, but when Sora started to kiss him, and then proceeded to kiss down his neck, to his bare chest and down past his navel, Riku didn't want to resist. Sora had his fingers around the waist of Riku's shorts when the older boy suddenly fully woke.

"Good morning." Riku looked down at the brunet with a smile. Sora lowered the shorts just a little and kissed the now exposed skin near Riku's hipbone. "What a way to wake up."

"I'm glad it worked." Sora said smiling up at the boy. "Now let's get ready." Sora jumped away from Riku's crotch and out of the bed, much to Riku's dismay. "Riku, we haven't even seen each other naked yet. Do you really think I'm going to give you a blowjob when we need to get ready for school?"

"It's the first day of school! I need something to make me feel better about the shittiness that's upon us!" Riku said, trying to coax Sora back near his waistline. "How about just a kiss?" He said as he held himself lewdly.

Sora groaned. "You're a pig." He grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom. "I'm going to shower quickly. Just jack off while I'm in there." Sora laughed.

"You know that's not the same thing." Riku said to himself as Sora left the room. He didn't want to feel frustrated, but it'd been a week and the longest they had gone apart from each other was when they were in the bathroom. Seven nights of sleeping in the same bed, and the closest they had gotten was some heavy making out and grinding. Sora hadn't even touched him through his shorts, but he was fine with teasing him just to get him out of bed.

Well, Riku had a problem now, so he took Sora's advice. He took his shorts off and grabbed some lotion. He was almost finished when his door opened, and unsure who was on the other side, he quickly covered himself. "Could you knock?" Riku asked.

"Jeez, it's just me." Sora said. He was drying off his hair as he walked in. He started laughing at Riku, who had covered himself with his pillow. "I didn't actually think you'd do it. Did I turn you on that much?

Riku, still holding the pillow, walked over to Sora. "Do you want to see how much you turned me on?" He asked, his voice growing somewhere between frustration and lust. He threw his pillow back onto his bed and Sora quickly turned around, closing the door. He handed the towel to Riku, who wrapped it around his waist. "Why are you such a prude?" Riku asked.

Sora glanced to see the towel around Riku, and then turned to face him, frowning. "I'm not a prude. I just want to not rush into sex." In his mind, he added the word again. "As romantic as a five minute fuck before we head to school sounds, I'd rather our first time have a little something special. If that makes me a prude, so be it." Sora crossed over to Riku's dresser, where he grabbed some hair gel and played with his hair in the mirror. "Now go get ready, I want to get there early, so we can meet Kairi, and I can get acclimated." He called out after Riku closed the door. "She's expecting us, so hurry up."

###

"Roxas, I'm sorry, really."

Words rang in Roxas' head as he looked at his brother's bed. His brother had only been home a few times in the last week, and that was just to check in with Cloud or grab some more clothes. He had avoided his brother after the first time he came home. They had a row, and since then, the two Strife boys hadn't talked.

He had talked to Selphie last night about the situation. She was the only one who showed up for the weekly chat, both Wakka and Tidus were involved with something else, or so Selphie said. Roxas had been worried that the three of them would grow distant from him, but he didn't think it'd be so soon, especially since Roxas was making an effort.

"No matter what happens, you two are brothers, and you know he loves you. It's a weird time for both of you. When you're ready, you should talk to him. It'll be better for you both."

The chat wasn't very long before they made some excuse to stop talking. Roxas probably wasn't going to call next week. Especially with school starting, he was going to be busy, and so were they. It was for the best.

"Whatcha doing, Roxas?" A voice knocked him out of his thoughts. He realized that he must have just been sitting there staring at Sora's bed for several minutes. "I know I'm hot, but that's no reason to stare." Roxas rolled his eyes as they scanned over to Axel's face. Since Sora wasn't home, he had let Axel sleep over. Radiant Garden was a long walk for the carless redhead, and the Twilight High buses didn't shuttle kids that far away. Demyx usually drove Axel, but Axel preferred Roxas' offer. "You want to use the shower first? Or maybe we could share." Axel said as he waggled his eyebrows. "It's our duty as citizens of this world to limit water consumption."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'll go." Maybe it was a Strife thing to tease, because he started taking his clothes off on his way to the bathroom door. First his tank top, then his shorts and lastly his underwear. He walked into the bathroom, knowing Axel was enjoying the show. Maybe, though, he wasn't exactly a tease like his brother as he poked his head out of the door and said. "Are you coming?"

Axel didn't need to be told twice.

###

"I told him eight." Kairi said glancing at her phone. It was 8:05 and she was becoming impatient waiting for Sora and Riku. The girls were sitting at a table in the cafeteria, where some of the kids would hang out before the bell rung. It was mostly empty, as many students were taking their time getting to school on this first day.

"Maybe he and Riku ended up like Roxas and Axel." Xion said.

"What do you mean?" Naminé asked.

"Well, I was gonna see if Roxas and Axel wanted to ride with us, but when I looked in Roxas' room there was nobody there.

"So they left already?"

"No, the shower was running." Xion said. "So one or both of them were in there."

"Jealous." Naminé muttered. Xion and Kairi gave her a peculiar look. Her cheeks tinged pink and she looked down. "What's wrong with wanting to shower with a cute guy?"

"Which one?" Xion asked, grinning. Naminé's blush turned redder and she turned away. "Has Naminé developed a little crush?"

Naminé pouted. "Shut up, Xion!"

"Well speak of the devils." Xion remarked, looking off past Naminé. Axel and Roxas approached the girls. "Hey, boys, I see you're both squeaky clean."

Axel grinned and Roxas' face matched Naminé's in embarrassment. "We gotta look our best for the first day." Axel said.

"Right." Xion said. "It took two of you to clean the hard to reach spots." Axel, Kairi and Xion started laughing as Roxas sat next to Naminé and put his face in his hands. Naminé patted his shoulder, glad that it wasn't her being embarrassed.

"Oh." Kairi said, spying Riku and Sora. She hopped away from the table and said a hurried goodbye as she ran over to the boys. "You guys are late." She said sternly. "I thought we were gonna show Sora around."

"There's still time, Kairi." Riku said. "Besides, between you and me, at least one of us is in one of his classes, so we can just walk him to the next one, which we would do anyway."

"I just want to find my locker." Sora said, adjusting his backpack. "I am tired of carrying this."

"Hey, Sora." Axel came running up to the three. "I haven't seen you, either of you, since…uh…in like a week. We want to have rehearsal tonight, you free?"

The three hadn't seen each other since Riku found them kissing. Riku hadn't really thought about Axel, as he had been too preoccupied with Sora. But seeing his face had sent the memory back and he was suddenly angry. An overwhelming urge to punch the redhead's smug face came over him.

And so he did.

"What the hell, Riku?" Kairi shouted as Riku's fist connected with Axel's cheek. Axel fell to the ground, moaning in agony. Kairi and Sora dropped down to help him. Riku scanned the cafeteria, and luckily, there were no teachers around.

"Fuck." Axel said, as he sat up. His cheek had swollen and he had a bruise under his left eye.

"Axel, shit. I didn't mean to do that." Riku hadn't intended to actually hit him, he just really wanted to. "Are you okay?"

Axel was pissed, rightly so. "Do I look okay?" He asked, pointing at his cheek.

"No worse than usual." Riku joked. The three looked up at Riku, glaring. "Okay, not a time for joking. I guess I had some pent up rage from finding you two together. C'mon Meatball, it was an accident." He gave his hand to help him up, but Axel swatted it away.

"Don't 'Meatball' me!" Axel snapped back. He turned to Sora. "So rehearsal tonight? If you come, please don't bring that with you." He gestured at Riku before walking away, and then changed the gesture as he walked away when Riku called his name to stop him.

"That was rude." Riku frowned. They started walking toward the exit in search of Sora's locker. "I don't know what came over me."

"Will you be upset if I'm still in the band if you can't come to practice?" Sora asked.

"No. It's my fault. I'll find a way to make it up to him." Riku said. The trio hadn't noticed the sound of fast approaching footsteps as they spoke, until Roxas collided into Riku, pushing him to the ground. "Whaaa!" Riku cried as he hit the floor.

"Roxas! What are you doing?" Kairi asked. Sora had helped Riku back up to his feet.

"Me? What the hell is he doing punching Axel?" He pointed his finger at Riku.

"Roxas, it was a mis…"

"Sora, shut up." Roxas said holding his hand to his brother. "I'm not talking to you."

"It was a mistake, Roxas. I just remembered him kissing Sora and I got angry. I apologized. I am sorry." Riku said.

"Whatever." Roxas said, walking away. He turned around after a few steps. "Stay away from him. From us." He returned to the table with Axel.

"Well this is great." Kairi said. "Brothers and best friends now hate each other. This is just gonna be so much fun to be around."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Sora asked as they started to walk towards the locker banks.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "No, I was being sincere." Her words were indeed saturated in sarcasm. "Should we have some intervention? We can sit the four of you down and talk."

"Not any time soon, Kairi." Riku said, looking back at the table. Kairi shot him a displeased look. "You can't think it's a good idea for me to walk over there and talk to them now? Axel has every right to be upset; he could attack me."

"He wouldn't, would he?" Sora asked. Riku shrugged. They found themselves at Sora's locker, where he stored his backpack. "Well, we're all in the same homeroom, right? Do we wanna head there?"

Kairi checked her phone. "We've got ten minutes, and we probably don't want to go back to the cafeteria." As she replaced her phone in her pocket, it buzzed.

 _ **New Message**_

 _ **11/17/2015 8:20**_

 _ **Xion Fair:**_ What the hell is going on?

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ These boys are dumb.):

 _ **Xion Fair:**_ So what are we gonna do?

 _ **Kairi Gainsborough:**_ idk

They made their way to homeroom. By now, the halls were crowded and it was hard to get past everyone who was trying to find their way to their lockers or to their friends.

On the other end of the hallway, Axel was at his locker with Demyx and Saïx. "Shit, man. What happened to you?" Saïx asked. Axel slammed his locker shut, causing to the other two to recoil. "Who'd you get in a fight with?"

"Riku." Axel muttered, walking towards their homeroom. "I come up to him, Sora and Kairi. I tell Sora about tonight's rehearsal, and then he just decks me."

"Are you going to tell someone?" Demyx asked, getting very close to Axel's face to examine the bruising. "Well it doesn't look terrible. Doesn't make your face look worse." Demyx giggled. Axel raised his hand and Demyx squeaked and shrunk back, hiding behind Saïx.

"No, so if anybody asks, it was an accident. I walked into a door or something." Axel said.

Saïx rolled his eyes. "That's so cliché. You're basically saying you got hit by saying that."

"I don't want to get him in trouble. Honestly, I'm sort of over it, but Roxas is pissed. I think he's just looking for any reason to hate on Sora and everyone close to him." Axel said.

"So you and Roxas?" Demyx asked. Axel shrugged. "Is that going to cause a problem for Sora being in the band? We're still totally in favor of finding a new singer to keep him." Axel shot daggers at Demyx, who again hid behind Saïx. "Just joking, Ax."

"I don't know. I haven't really talked about it with him. I don't want to create problems, and I know Roxas will want to be at band practice. I'll talk to him before tonight." Axel said.

"What about songwriting?" Saïx asked. "You mentioned Roxas' being a good writer." Axel nodded. "So?"

"I'll ask him about that too, but this whole mess started because I read one of his notebooks. He may be guarded about it." Axel said.

"Doesn't hurt to try." Saïx said. "Well, I gotta head upstairs; I'll see you two later." He kissed Demyx on the cheek and headed up the stairs at the end of the hallway. The boys turned into their own homeroom as they said goodbye to Saïx.

The homerooms were a blend of the four grade levels, so despite Saïx's senior status, his homeroom contained Xion and Naminé, as well as the sophomore Zexion, whom he chose to sit next to. Maybe he could talk him into working with his band instead of Larxene's

Across the room, the two young girls were talking. Rather, Xion was talking, and Naminé was listening. A faint pink glow on her cheeks looked deep on her pale skin and against her light blond hair, which she had swept in front of her face to hide. "I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about. It's just a little crush. It could go away. It's understandable, sort of." Naminé cocked her head in confusion. "Like he's cute, yes, but unless he had some great personality the first time you talked to him at the party, I don't know what about him you're attracted to. Not that he's not a good guy, but you don't know him. I barely know him and he's family. Just, the Roxas that has been around has been really moody."

Naminé sighed. "Maybe it's irrational, or maybe I just think he's really cute. It's moot though, right, if he's with Axel." Xion nodded. "I could try breaking them up."

"Naminé, that's a horrible idea. Twilight Town is a huge place, especially compared to Rabanastre; there are a lot of guys to choose from. Don't go breaking up a couple."

"I know." Naminé said. "I just can't seem to stop thinking about Roxas."

"There'll be others." Xion promised, resting her hand on her friends forearm. "Just give it time."

The bell sounded, the noise outside the classroom door became rushed as students hurried themselves to their homerooms. A brunet boy entered through the door, and walked to the teacher, where he confirmed he was in the right place. He gave a sigh of relief. He approached Xion and Naminé, as they were sitting at the front of the room. "Is anyone sitting here?" He asked of the seat next to Naminé.

She smiled shyly and shook her head. "No, you can sit here." When his back was turned from to Naminé, she gave a quick excited look to Xion. "I'm Naminé, by the way."

"Hi, Naminé. My name's Ventus, but call me Ven." The boy smiled at Naminé and his bright blue eyes shone. Naminé could have literally swooned, but she had a little self-control.

"Well I guess that was enough time." Xion said. Naminé shot her a quick, indignant look. "Hi, Ven. I'm Xion. I haven't seen you around."

"I just moved here." He replied.

"Me too." Naminé said, exuding a bit too much enthusiasm. "I wonder what else we have in common."

Xion slapped her hand against her forehead in disbelief of her friend's giddy forthrightness. "I know he's a boy, and you're a girl, but could you be any more obvious?" She whispered into Naminé's ear. Naminé didn't have a chance to respond as the teacher started to take roll and read off the daily announcements.

Homeroom was the same for everyone, a short period to take attendance and give announcements. It also gave students a brief moment to finish up some homework or catch up with friends.

Roxas' homeroom teacher had just finished up announcements. He was seated next to Pence, the only person he knew in the class. He recognized the guy with pink hair in the back, and the blonde sitting next to him, but couldn't place them, or name them.

"What classes do you have?" Pence asked trying to make conversation.

Roxas scanned over his class schedule. "English, Spanish II, Algebra and Gym. That doesn't seem like a lot."

"Oh, we do a block system. So next semester you'll have different classes, like science and social studies. We have Spanish together. You'll probably be the only freshman in it though. Did you take Spanish back home?"

"Yeah. The islands have a lot of native Spanish speakers, so it was required."

"I think you'll have Olette in Algebra class and Hayner in gym. I only vaguely remember their schedules. It sucks being in the year above your friends."

"Naminé is a sophomore. Maybe you'll have classes with her." Roxas said.

"I hope so." Pence said. "I don't really like the other people in my grade, or they don't really like me." Guess that's why I hang out with Xion, Hayner and Olette." A bell sounded and the classroom echoed with sounds of moving chairs and chattering students. "Well, I'll see you in second block, Roxas. Pence headed out towards his first class. Roxas didn't know which that was, as he didn't bother asking. He gathered the notebook and pen he brought with him and headed out the door. He looked at the doors across the hall, and then turned around to see the room he was in. He looked at his schedule and realized his homeroom teacher was his English teacher and so he reentered the room and sat down in the same spot. Soon, others started sitting down around him.

"Oh good, Hayner and Olette aren't in this class, and I was worried I was going to be alone." Xion said as she sat next to Roxas. "God forbid I'm in a class without any of my close friends." She laughed. "How was homeroom?"

Roxas gave her a quizzical look. "Xion, it was fifteen minutes long, and what exactly could happen in homeroom?"

"Well, a lot of things. For instance, I'm pretty sure Naminé has found a new boy to pursue." Xion said. Roxas didn't ask a follow up to 'new,' so she mentally breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't her place to tell Roxas of Naminé's interest.

"No, nothing happened. It was just me and Pence." Roxas replied. "That's good for Naminé. Only fifteen minutes in and she's got her eyes on a guy."

Xion nodded. "Yeah. I guess."

Their conversation had ended just in time for the teacher to start talking. "Good morning, class!" She said in a strong English accent. "My name is Miss Porter. I'll be teaching you English this semester. It will be rather good fun." Before her eyes was a sea of faces, disinterested in the idea of English being fun, except for one. "You, Roxas, yes?" He nodded. "We're going to do introductions. I want you to stand up, face the class, and tell us your name, your favorite book and something interesting about you. Then, we will work our way down the row, and keep going until everyone has gone."

Roxas stood up and turned around. There were a lot of students looking at him. He may have felt more comfortable if he knew any of them, but he didn't, so he wasn't. "My name is Roxas...uh Strife. My favorite book is probably Watership Down. And...hmm...I was born and raised on Destiny Islands, but now I live here with Xion, who is my cousin."

"That's good, Roxas, and next, Xion you may go." Miss Porter said.

Xion stood. "My name is Xion Fair. My favorite book is Lord of the Rings. My cousins just moved in, Roxas and his brother, Sora. Not a day has gone by since they've been here that hasn't been crazy."

The introductions continued as such. When the class was finished, Miss Porter spoke. "I will enjoy getting to know you all throughout the semester, and in the future if you're placed in any of my classes. As for me, my name is Jane Porter. My favorite book is Tarzan, and no the irony is not lost on me. I was born in London, but I moved here after I graduated from uni to start teaching." Miss Porter leaned against her desk as she peered out over her class. "Over the next four months, we will be reading two novels and one Shakespearean play, as well as several short stories." She walked over to a set of cupboards and opened them to reveal several textbooks. "She placed large piles at the beginning of each row of desks."Take one of these and pass them down. In the front cover, there's a pocket and a card, you'll sign your name to the card and leave them on your desk when you leave." She then returned to her desk and grabbed a pile of papers. "These are the syllabi for this semester. There will be quizzes administered at the end of each week that will cover the short story or stories we have read, the grammar lessons we have covered, and whatever else we have been doing in the week. Your first assignment will also be due at the end of the week, but you will have ample class time to complete it," She began to walk around the desks, grabbing the textbook cards. "I'm going to shuffle these up, and draw pairs. Your assignment, due this Friday, will be a short paper about your partner." There was a noticeable groaning from the class. "It'll be fun. You'll get to learn something new about someone you may have never talked to before."

As she drew names, Roxas was silently praying for Miss Porter to draw him and Xion. "Roxas." She called out. "You'll be partners with..." She drew Xion's name. "Xi...oh no, that won't do. You two are cousins; you don't need an exercise in getting to know each other." Roxas' head hit the desk, as he sighed. "You'll be partnered with Neku." Roxas glanced over at the boy who had introduced himself earlier as Neku. He had been quiet and terse in his answers. His face was obscured by the high neck of his black and blue vest. When Miss Porter finished pairing, she instructed everyone to find their partners. She gave them the rest of the block to become acquainted.

"Hi." Roxas greeted as he approached Neku. The boy grunted, as he continued to look out the window. "So should we start?" Neku shrugged. "You're going to have to talk to me so we can do this stupid paper."

Neku glanced at Roxas, looking him up and down. "Or, we can each just write our own story, put the other's name on it, and call it good." He returned his attention to the window.

Roxas sighed. "That's great and all, but she's going to see us not talking to each other, and be suspicious. You have to at least pretend to be talking to me." Neku rolled his eyes. English had always been Roxas' favorite class, but if he had to deal with this uncaring kid, it was going to be a long first week.

###

Riku's day had been going fine. He shared his first three classes with Sora, and two of them with Kairi as well, but he was without them in his last class, Anatomy and Physiology. What was worse was that his best friend was also in the class, if he still wanted to be his best friend at least. And even worse than that was the teacher, Dr. Sweet, had created a seating chart by last name. So Riku Leonheart was undoubtedly seated next to Axel Lea.

Their teacher stepped into the classroom from a back door where the science teachers' offices were. "Good afternoon." He spoke. He was a man of large stature, towering over the class. He was an intimidating force. "I am Dr. Sweet. I have several doctorates, and so you shall address me by the correct title. I used to practice medicine in Radiant Garden, until the War of Shibuya occurred. I was sent out to help out soldiers and civilians harmed, until the evacuation efforts." He walked the classroom, handing out his syllabus to the students. "I retired, but grew bored, so I took up teaching. People ask me why I don't teach at the university, and I tell them that my decision to go into medicine happened in high school, because of my own teacher. I want to instill that desire into the minds of you all. Do any of you want to be doctors?" Every hand was in the air, except Axel's. "What's your name?" He addressed Axel.

"Axel Lea, sir." He started to shrink down.

"What do you want to be, son?" Dr. Sweet asked.

"A musician, sir." As Dr. Sweet drew closer to Axel's table, Axel grew more nervous. He instinctively reached for Riku's hand under the table, to feel safe. Riku gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Dr. Sweet laughed. "That's wonderful. As long as the world has restaurants, there will always be a need for musicians to wait tables." A few voices in the classroom laughed, and Axel turned red, a mix of anger and embarrassment and he wanted to die. "Now to the matter at hand."

Dr. Sweet went over the syllabus, detailing the course and what they'll be doing. Most of the class was ready for the cat dissection to be done in the second quarter. Axel, however, was not paying attention and still holding on to Riku's hand for dear life. "It's starting to hurt." Riku said of his hand.

"Sorry." He didn't let go right away, in fact squeezing harder. Riku winced, and tried to pull his hand away. "It is literally the least you can do after what you did to me this morning."

"The least I could do is nothing." Riku pried his hand from Axel's grip. "I'm sorry, Axel. Really. I didn't even think about what I saw until I saw you, and then it just came rushing back."

"It's cool. I shouldn't have been in that situation anyway. That wasn't cool." Axel said. "Are we good?"

"Yeah, or at least we will be, Meatball." Riku said.

At the end of class, the last bell rang. The students rushed to their lockers and left promptly, either boarding their bus or driving off in their own cars. Some of the students who didn't rely on the bus were more leisurely in their leaving. Axel, Demyx and Saïx had all gathered outside of Saïx's locker to discuss that night's plans. "Zexion is in my homeroom. I asked if he maybe wanted to change his mind about writing for us. I invited him to practice. Maybe Sora's talent will show him that we are the better band."

"Where are we going to practice?" Axel asked.

Saïx and Demyx looked at him confusedly. Saïx answered. "At my..."

"Your brother is home. I will absolutely not practice at your place." Axel interrupted.

"My dad's apartment isn't big enough." Demyx whined. "It has to be at Saïx's. We can't do it at your place, Ax."

"What about Sora's?" Axel asked. "There's room, we've performed there before."

"Aren't the brothers fighting?" Saïx asked.

"Yeah, but they're going to both want to be there anyway." Axel answered. Saïx closed his locker and the three headed out of the school. "Obviously we have to check with Sora, make sure it's okay with his aunt and dad." In the parking lot, he spied an argument between Roxas and Sora. "I'm going to go check this out, load up your cars, and I'll let you know about where we are gonna play. The couple nodded as Axel ran off towards the gang.

Xion and Naminé had grabbed onto Roxas' wrists to keep him from lunging at his brother, while Riku and Kairi had Sora by his shoulders. Pence, Hayner and Olette were off to the side. There was also a boy Axel didn't recognize by Naminé's side. As Axel approached, Roxas asked. "Can you two let me go?" The two girls exchanged worried looks. "I just want to go to Axel." They tentatively let go. He quickly walked to the redhead. "Let's go."

The redhead blinked. "Go where?"

Roxas was getting annoyed. "Anywhere but here. I don't care."

Axel tore his eyes from Roxas and scanned the crowd. "What's going on?"

"Brotherly love." Kairi deadpanned.

"They're just squabbling, like children." Xion answered. Roxas scowled at her. "Don't tell me you're both not acting stupid about this whole thing."

"I'm not acting stupid." Roxas said, crossing his arms against his chest. "This is Sora's fault. He's trying to control my life." He turned to Axel. "Can we go?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk..." He took a deep breath and braced himself. "To Sora."

"Why do you need to talk to him!?" Roxas all but screamed.

Axel was beginning to think that Sora was right about Axel being too old for Roxas. "It's about the band. We need to find a place to practice tonight. I thought maybe your house would be a good place."

"That would be cool." Sora answered, earning himself an indignant look from his brother. "Xion?"

She shrugged, and then smiled. "I think it'd be cool. I mean, it means you'll have a crowd. Our place is kind of the go to place to hang besides the Usual Spot. I don't think my mom will care."

"I can't believe you still want him in the band." Roxas grumbled. "Even after what Riku did?"

Axel had to brace himself again. "Riku and I had a moment. We're fine."

"How are you not still mad?" Roxas asked.

"Because I'm basically an adult and I can't let an important friendship go because of a pretty justifiable punch." Axel said. "I'm not going to act like a child about it." He meant it, but he didn't mean to say it out loud. "That's not..."

"No. I get it. I'm just a child." Roxas said as he slowly walked away from Axel. "Fuck you." He started to point at everyone. "And you. And you. I don't know you, but fuck you anyway. Fuck all of you." Roxas yelled as he stormed off.

"Is somebody going to go after him?" Naminé asked.

"Are you volunteering?" Olette replied. There was a silence and they all looked around, but nobody was making a move. Everyone's eyes settled on Sora eventually.

"Oh no. No no no. I'm not touching that with a ten-foot clown pole." Sora said as they all gave him a look that said, "Go after him." Sora shook his head. "Except for maybe Axel, I'm the last person he wants to talk to. How about we send, whoever you are." He pointed at Ventus.

"I'm Ventus. Ven for short. I don't think he wants to see me either." He said.

"He'll be fine. Despite his behavior, he's not a child. He'll come home soon."

"What if he doesn't?" Xion asked worried.

"We'll go home, have rehearsal, and if he hasn't come home by then, we'll go on a manhunt. He's not dumb. He just needs to blow off steam." Sora said. The group muttered reluctant agreement. They all proceeded to Riku and Pence's cars. Both cars were silent on their way to the Fair-Strife home; most were worried enough about Roxas that they didn't know what to say.

###

Roxas wandered the streets. The walk allowed for some introspection. Maybe he was overreacting. On the other hand, maybe he was justified. Riku punched Axel, why would he forgive that so easily? Then again, he didn't want to keep fighting with Sora, so he understood quick forgiveness, but he didn't want to concede to his brother either. "If we just stayed in Destiny Islands, where we belonged, none of this would have happened." He said aloud to nobody. He knew that a lot of his problems were his own doing, but he was too stubborn to admit it to anybody else. He managed to have walked quite far while he was going through his thoughts.

He had been downtown a few times, but never really went into any of the businesses. He settled on Mrs. Pott's Cafe. He walked up to the counter and was greeted by a boy not much older than him. His nametag said Chip on it. "Welcome, what can I get started for you?" Chip asked.

Roxas scanned the menu. "I'll have a medium iced mocha." He decided. Chip placed the order and took Roxas' munny. As the drink was being made, he scanned the cafe. It was quaint; there was a nice homey feeling, like it was your grandmother's kitchen. On a couch, in the corner, Roxas spotted a familiar face. Chip handed him his drink, and Roxas thanked him. He decided to go over to the couch. "Is this seat taken?" He asked, sitting down without an answer. "So, do you think we can talk now?"


	8. Downtown

Roxas was happy he came into the café. At least as happy as he could be considering the rage he was feeling at his quote-unquote friends. The iced mocha was delicious. He held the chocolatey espresso laced liquid on his tongue as he waited for the boy he addressed to acknowledge him. Perhaps his music was too loud. He hesitated, but decided to pull one of the ears of Neku's headphones away as he repeated. "Hey, do you think we can talk?"

Neku yelped, as he was not aware of Roxas' presence until that moment. "Why are you bothering me?" He pulled his Zune (iPods were too mainstream) out of his pocket and paused his music. "We talked during class. I said we were gonna write our own stories, and then you said, well I don't know what you said because I wasn't paying attention." Roxas frowned. "So can you not with this. I want to be left alone." Neku put his music back on and returned to his book. Roxas hadn't even noticed it when he first saw the boy. He glanced at it; he had just started Watership Down.

Roxas walked over to Chip, who was busying himself by cleaning the windows. "Are you guys usually so dead?"

"Sometimes. We get most of our business from the morning crowd needing that sweet caffeine before work or school. Now and then, we get rushes when school lets out. Neku's always here though." Chip moved to the next window.

"You know his name?" Roxas asked.

"He comes in when we are open, goes to school, and then leaves when we close. Sometimes he's here, even before me or Ma, just waiting at the door. All through summer, he was here all day. Ma likes him, or she probably wouldn't let him loiter. He rarely buys anything."

"Do you know anything else about him?" Roxas asked.

Chip answered. "Very little. He's a loner, but he's warmed up to Ma. Now and then, she makes him a hot chocolate with some caramel added. I think that's his favorite. Also, he's from Shibuya."

"What?!" Roxas asked shocked. Chip nodded. Roxas couldn't keep his eyes off Neku, until he realized he was being watched, and turned to Roxas. Roxas quickly turned away towards Chip. He glanced to see Neku back in his book. "That's terrible." Roxas pulled his wallet out and took out five munny. "Here. Can you make him that hot chocolate he likes?"

Chip nodded. "Do you want me to say it was from you?" Roxas shook his head. "They're not this expensive."

"It's a tip. Thanks." Roxas said exiting the café. He headed across the street, where there was a small bookstore. He went inside and started to browse.

"Hello. Welcome to Le Librarie. I'm Belle, may I help you?" Roxas shrugged "Just here to browse?"

"I suppose so." Roxas said. He walked around the store for a little bit. He returned to Belle, who was dusting some shelves. "Any chance that a kid with big blue headphones and a loose turtleneck covering his mouth came in here today?"

"Neku?"

"You know him?" Roxas asked.

"He comes in every other day or so. I think the name confused him because I think he thinks this is a library. I let him borrow books. We've talked a little; he's given me a vague back-story. He lives at the orphanage on the edge of town. Oh, that's probably not information I needed to be sharing."

"It's okay. He told me about that." Roxas lied. "Did he come in today?" Belle nodded. "To borrow Watership Down.

Belle nodded. "He usually doesn't come to me. He'll browse around and just choose something, but he specifically asked for that book."

Roxas hummed contemplatively. He tried to remember Neku's introduction, but he couldn't think of what Neku said his favorite book was. "Does he have a favorite book? One that he comes back for all the time."

Belle tapped her upper lip, thinking. "He has borrowed Oliver Twist a few times. He's also read a Series of Unfortunate Events through at least twice."

"Oh, that's sad." Roxas peered out the storefront window where he could see Neku sipping on his drink. "He asked for Watership Down specifically."

"He said he hadn't heard of it before, so he wouldn't know where to look." Belle said. "Didn't know the author or what it was about, but really wanted to read it."

"How about that." A small smile formed on his lips. "Thanks so much, Belle."

"Not a problem…" She trailed off to ask the question implicitly.

"Roxas."

"Roxas. I hope I'll see you again."

"I am sure you will." He smiled. He left the shop and proceeded to cross the street again. He walked past the window, where he and Neku made eye contact, and there was a glint that made Roxas turn around and enter the café again.

Roxas sat next to Neku again, but didn't initiate anything, he just watched as Neku read. After a few minutes, a sigh escaped Neku's lips. "What now?" He asked, moving the headphones around his neck.

"I don't want to cheat on our assignment. English is my favorite class and I don't want to fall out of Miss Porter's graces so soon in the year. Plus she's my homeroom teacher, so I'm stuck with her until I graduate. Why won't you let me get to know you?" Roxas asked.

"Why do you want to?" Neku asked.

"For the assignment." Roxas answered.

"Meaning you wouldn't want to if it weren't for the assignment?"

"I guess technically no." Neku scoffed and put his headphones back on. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to now." His words fell on deaf ears, or at least ears deafened by music. "Neku. Neku!" Roxas moved the headphones back to Neku's neck. "I want to get to know you because you have this air of mystery."

"Maybe I don't want to be figured out." Neku said. He returned his headphones and reopened the book, resuming his reading. Roxas tapped Neku's shoulder. He initially ignored it, but Roxas was incessant. "Gah, what?" Neku moved his headphones away from his ears again.

"Can I ask one question?" Roxas asked.

"You just did." Neku snidely remarked.

"Why are you so standoffish?"

"That's another one."

Roxas took a breath. "Why are you reading that book?"

Neku's eyes got wide, and he started to blush. He quickly turned away, and cleared his throat. "It's one of my favorites. I'm just rereading it, since you had brought it up in class. Made me nostalgic." Neku lied.

"You're lying." Roxas said. Neku looked askance at the blond. "Belle told me." Neku's collar was hiding the fact his mouth dropped. "She told me about the orphanage, and Chip told me about where you're from, and I just thought maybe you could use a friend."

Neku's eyes narrowed as Roxas talked. "You have some nerve trying to pump other people for information about me."

Roxas scoffed. "I hardly pumped them. I did ask about you, but that doesn't mean I forced them to say anything."

"Shut up." Neku threw the book at Roxas' chest. "Just leave me alone, and take your stupid rabbit book with you." Neku rose up from the couch and stalked out the door. Roxas held the book tightly. He didn't mean to upset the boy.

"Whoa." Chip said from behind the counter. "I have honestly never seen him leave before close since he started coming here. What did you do?"

Roxas shook his head. "I don't know." He quickly tried to catch up with Neku. Luckily, Roxas was faster. More athletic from many days on the beach, and he quickly found himself in step with Neku.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Neku asked.

"I know that I said I wanted to do the assignment with you, and then you said, well I don't remember because I wasn't paying attention." Roxas said, echoing Neku's earlier statement. "

Neku may have been a little amused, but his vest hid his smirk. "Roxas…"

"Did you only start reading this book because it was my favorite?" Neku didn't respond, which Roxas took as tacit confirmation. "Why?"

"I really don't know. I guess since you're my partner I remembered what you said and I needed a new book to read." Neku shrugged. "Why do you care?"

"I want to get to know you. Is that so wrong?" Roxas asked. "Sure it was forced, but so? Doesn't mean I shouldn't want to do it."

"I just don't get it." Neku said. They walked in silence for about half a mile, until Roxas finally broke it.

"My mother loved rabbits. She had grown up with them as pets, and she just adored them. When I was younger, I was her little rabbit. She read me Watership Down when I was a child, and it became my favorite." Roxas said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Neku asked, but Roxas chose to ignore him.

"For my eighth birthday, mom got me a little rabbit, the runt of its litter, so I named it Fiver. I was so happy, and I loved it. Soon, we realized my brother was really allergic. We had to give him away." Roxas laughed as his eyes welled up. "I begged mom and dad to give up Sora instead, but they said no. I loved little Fiver. It wasn't fair. My brother and I haven't been getting along well. About nine months ago, my mom died."

"I'm sorry." Neku put his hand on Roxas' shoulder.

"I think that's why I wanted to talk to you. When Chip said you were from Shibuya and then Belle said you were an orphan…I just wanted to talk to someone with a real memory of losing a parent. Maybe that wasn't fair of me."

"What about your brother? He lost his mother too."

Roxas shook his head. "Sora coped differently than me. I think that's part of the reason we aren't doing well. He tried to assume her role with me, but I don't need him mothering me."

"I understand. That's why I ended up here. I bounced around foster homes in cities close to Shibuya, but I didn't want to be taken care of by people who weren't my parents. Mr. Hanekoma runs the orphanage. He's nice. He understands the hell we went through. He sees us as equals, not children. There's actually a few displaced from Shibuya here. Joshua is in our grade, Shiki is a sophomore, Beat is a senior and his little sister will be a freshman next year."

"What happened in Shibuya? I know of the war, but Shibuya got the brunt of the damage."

"The Reapers, the military police of the Composer, who deposed the democratically elected government, basically burned the city to the ground."

"Isn't the war over though?"

Neku nodded. "There was a treaty signed. The Composer has control of Japan. There is a resistance movement, but basically as long as The Composer stays in Japan, nobody will enter to face him."

"How did you escape?"

"Troops allied against the Composer were able to rescue some of us. My mother hid me underneath the floorboards when the Reapers came." Neku shivered. He continued, stifling his sorrows. "I can still hear her anguished screams as they killed her. It's why I wear these, so I can drown out the noise."

"Oh my god." Roxas spied a bench in the park they had unintentionally walked to. He grabbed Neku's hand and led him over to sit.

"I hate it, and I don't want to relive it. I don't want to think about it, or talk about it." He started to sob. "This is why I didn't want to talk to you about my life."

Roxas pulled Neku close to him, and held him. "I'm so sorry, Neku. I didn't know." Neku sobbed into Roxas shoulder and Roxas rubbed his back.

When his tears had subsided, he wiped his eyes. "It is kind of therapeutic. I don't like being around people, but it's nice to let it all out. I'm sorry I let it out all over you, Roxas."

"Don't be sorry, I asked for this." Roxas said, wiping away an errant tear. "I wanted to know you." The palm of Roxas' hand cradled Neku's cheek as he wiped one last tear away with his thumb. "I shouldn't have tried so hard to open you up."

Neku nestled into the warmth of Roxas' hand. "I'm glad you did." He hadn't really realized how close he had gotten to Roxas until their lips met. Neku recoiled, and saw a shocked look on Roxas face. "Oh no. No, I misread this. This is why I can't be around people. I'm sorry." Neku quickly jumped off the bench, and dashed away.

Roxas was caught in confusion, until he realized Neku was running away. "Neku!" Roxas yelled as he took chase.

###

"Aren't you worried?" Kairi asked. The band had just finished practicing. Yuffie let them play in the basement. It was a small, unfinished space, but it worked for what they needed. Sora was sitting at the drum kit, surrounded by Riku, Kairi and Xion.

"He really should be back by now." Xion said. She looked at her phone. "Sora, it's almost seven. His phone is going straight to voice mail. We should look for him."

Sora agreed. Roxas should have come home. However, he also didn't think Roxas would appreciate being looked for. "He wants to be treated like an adult. I don't think he's going to find a lot of trouble here."

"Sora, you're not on Destiny Islands anymore." Riku said. "Twilight Town is big. There are scary people out there. I know you're both stubborn, but you know if he gets in a tough situation, you wouldn't forgive yourself."

"But if he's just fine, and we all go out after him, he'll never forgive me. He wants me to stop being his mother." Sora said. He stood up from the drums and walked toward the stairs.

"That doesn't mean you can't be his brother." Xion called out after him.

Sora turned around on the steps. "He just wants to be left alone."

"You said we would look for him." Xion was trying to be patient, but she was nearing the end of her rope. "He could get hurt out there."

Sora resumed walking up the stairs as he called back. "I won't stop you guys from starting a search party, but I'm not gonna be there when you find him at some coffee shop trying to be alone."

"Maybe we should try the coffee shops then?" Xion suggested. "Maybe we can just see if he's in one, or he's been around. Make sure he's okay without letting him know we're there."

"That could work." Kairi said. "Who's coming?"

"Just my two cents, but I think it should just be you two and Naminé. Except for his little freak out, he likes you girls." Riku said.

Xion looked around. Without realizing, She, Kairi and Riku had been left alone. "If we can even find Naminé. Maybe she and Ven found a place to talk…or something."

"Well, will you drive us back to the school, Riku? My car is still there." Kairi asked.

"Sure, let me go tell Sora, I'll meet you at my car." Riku said. He hustled up the stairs to find the band members huddled around the kitchen island. "Oh, Sora, I expected you to be upstairs. I'm gonna take Kairi and Xion to Kairi's car. Do you want to stay here?"

"Well, I don't want to disperse the gathering and it would be odd if nobody who lives here stayed." Sora said.

"True. Okay, well I'll be back." Sora nodded, returning to his conversation. Sora watched out of the corner of his eye as the three left.

"So Zexion likes the sound. He thinks you're a really good drummer, but he's not convinced anything will happen with us." Saïx said. "We might have to prove ourselves before he joins."

"It's a catch-22. Without a lyricist, we won't have songs to play, but we need to play to get him as our lyricist." Axel said. He tapped the island counter in frustration. He remembered Roxas' notebooks. Would it be possible to steal his work without him noticing? Axel withheld the idea for now. "We can't just do covers, can we?" The others shrugged.

"We will figure it out." Demyx said, remaining positive. "There's no time to book gigs right now anyway, plus we are kind of starting fresh. We will get into the groove and we won't even need Zexion."

"Let's hope so. We're gonna head out though." Saïx said. "Do you want a ride home, Ax?"

Axel was hoping to talk to Sora about Roxas' writings. Roxas probably wouldn't be amenable to him sleeping over again, so unless he could convince Riku to drive him home, it would be a long walk. "Yeah." He answered. "We'll see you tomorrow, Sora."

Sora waved as they headed out the door. He walked into the living room, where Naminé and Ven were sharing the sofa and Hayner, Pence and Olette were sprawled out on the floor. "What are you all doing?"

"We're not sure." Hayner said, staring up the ceiling. "Waiting for you all to stop talking and wander in here."

"Well everyone else left." Sora said. The three on the floor sat upright and looked at Sora puzzled.

"Where did Xion go?" Naminé asked.

"To find Roxas."

"They weren't going to tell us?" Pence asked. "We want to help look for him too."

Sora rolled his eyes. "You're free to. I don't think it's a worthwhile venture, but whatever. Maybe his outburst earlier, telling us all to fuck off, was actually just a cry for attention." Sora shrugged. "Xion and Kairi are going to look for him." A buzz sounded from Sora's pocket.

"Is that Roxas?" Pence asked as Sora took his phone out.

Sora frowned and shook his head. "No, but I guess Riku's joining them. I'm going to go upstairs. I think maybe this is the point where you all leave, and join the wild goose chase." Sora left the living room.

"Well?" Olette asked. The group shrugged, nodded, and headed out to join the search.

###

Kairi, Riku and Xion arrived at Mrs. Potts. It wasn't the only coffee shop in town, but it was closest to the school, and the trio assumed that if he were going to stop somewhere, it would be the first place he came to.

"Welcome to Mrs. Potts." A middle-aged woman said from across the café. She was standing on a chair, dusting some pictures. There was nobody else that the three could see. "Oh, where is that boy. My son will be right with you. CHIP!" She screamed the boy's name.

The lanky blond boy came out through the kitchen doors. "Yeah, Ma?" He asked. "Oh, customers. Hi, what can I get you?"

Kairi ran her hand through her hair. "Sorry for the fuss, we were actually only wondering if you've seen someone. His name's Roxas. Blond guy, spiky hair, he was wearing a black shirt with an upside-down heart on it, and khaki shorts."

"Oh, yeah. I remember him. Hey, Ma, they're looking for the boy who chased Neku out of here." Chip said.

"What do you mean chased?" Kairi asked.

"Did you say Neku?" Xion asked.

"Who's Neku?" Riku asked.

Mrs. Potts had come down from her chair and walked closer to the trio. "Neku is just this darling child who comes here everyday. He should be here now, in fact. This is the first day in the months since he's moved to the city that he hasn't been until we closed."

Kairi turned her attention back to Chip. "So define chased?"

"Well they were talking about something, and then Neku threw the book he was reading at the boy, and stormed out." Chip answered.

"Any idea what they were talking about?" Riku asked.

Chip shrugged. "I try not to eavesdrop."

"Roxas was probably trying to get him to tell him something about himself. They're partners in this English project. We have to write a short essay about our partner." Xion said. "Roxas said Neku didn't want to talk, and that they should just cheat and write their own essays about themselves."

"Neku is a guarded, troubled boy. It's understandable that he would not want to open up." Mrs. Potts said.

"Did Roxas follow Neku after he left?" Xion asked. Chip nodded. "Where does Neku live?"

"I don't feel at liberty to say." Mrs. Potts said.

"We just want to know if Roxas is okay. He hasn't been seen or heard from since after school." Kairi said. Chip and Mrs. Potts gave her a look. "Okay, it doesn't sound bad, but he's new here, everyone he knows was at his house. There's nowhere else he would be, unless he followed Neku home."

"He lives at the orphanage." Chip blurted out. His mother shot him a stern, disapproving look. "The boy, Roxas, was being nice to him. I was just trying to help."

"Thanks." Kairi said smiling. "We appreciate it. We won't tell anyone. It's for Neku to share if he chooses to."

"Thank you." Mrs. Potts said. "I hope you find him, especially if he's with Neku."

"Naminé just texted me." Xion said. "They want to join, but should I say no. Keep Neku's secret." Her cousin nodded and Xion tapped a message out in reply.

"Thanks again. Next time we'll get some coffee." Kairi said as they left the building.

"She seems nice." Chip said.

"Oh my poor son, willing to do anything for a pretty face." Mrs. Potts said.

###

"Neku?!" Roxas cried out the name in vain. There was no response. He felt like he was roaming in circles. The trees all looked the same after what seemed like hours, it might have just been ten minutes. "Neku?" He whispered. There was a whimpering coming from behind a large oak tree. Roxas slowly approached the tree; if it was Neku, he didn't want to scare him off.

As he approached the tree, he did see Neku sitting with his knees pulled against his chest and his head between them. Roxas carefully sat next to him. He was certain that Neku felt his presence, but luckily, for Roxas, he didn't react.

Roxas reached for Neku's hand, which was gripping his leg tightly. He gently coaxed it loose, and entwined his fingers with Neku's. "I don't know if you can hear me. Umm…I hope you can though. I know we don't know each other, really. But I want to. Not just because of this essay. I don't care about it. There's just something about you calling me."

Roxas squeezed Neku's hand. He moved himself to kneel in front of the boy. "Neku?" He tipped Neku's head upward to look him in the eyes. "Why did you run?"

Neku exhaled a shaky breath. "I felt stupid…kissing you, and…I…didn't think you would want…I was embarrassed. It was a mistake."

"You didn't want to kiss me?" Roxas asked.

"No…I did…I mean…I do…no." Neku shook his head. "I'm sorry. You didn't and I shouldn't have"

"Oh. I didn't want you to kiss me?" Roxas asked. Neku shook his head again. "Did you ask me?"

Neku sniffled. "No. I'm sorry. Really."

"Neku, ask me." Roxas said.

"Did you want to kiss me?" Neku said in such a way as to ask if that was the question Roxas wanted him to ask.

"I do." Roxas said leaning forward and gently kissing Neku. He leaned away to gauge Neku's reaction. He looked faraway in a place of ignorance and bliss.

"I don't understand. Why?" Neku furrowed his brow.

Roxas sat beside Neku and put his arm around Neku's shoulders, allowing him to lean against his chest. "You ask why a lot. Tell me why not."

Neku opened his mouth, but words could not come. He didn't want to say all the things he knew were wrong with him. Everything that would force Roxas to flee, and Neku was comfortable lying against the blond boy. Someone who wanted to show him affection. All Neku wanted was to know the reason why. "I can't tell you why not, because I like this right now."

"Then don't ask me why. I like this too." Roxas stood, bringing Neku to his feet with him. "It's getting late, let's get you home." Roxas took Neku's hand and they walked toward the street where a car that was driving by suddenly and noisily braked.

"Roxas!" Xion yelled from the back seat window. She opened the door and hurried over to her cousin. "We have been worried sick. You won't answer your phone, it's after eight o'clock, and you don't know this city."

Roxas pursed his lips. "I told you I'm not a chi..."

Xion grabbed Roxas by the collar and pulled him to her. The boys were forced to release each other's hand. She started shaking him. "I know you're not a child. I know you don't need to be looked after, but don't tell me I can't worry about my family." Xion let go of Roxas mid shake, and he stumbled backwards. "Let's go, we can bring Neku to the orphanage, and then we're going home."

Neku's face turned white. "You-you know?" Xion nodded. "How?"

Xion noted the look of horror paling Neku and the anger and worry she had directed at Roxas dissipated. "From Mrs. Potts and Chip, we kind of forced it out of them when we were trying to find Roxas. We promise. Nobody has to know."

"I-I-I can't believe they...I trusted...people. I'm going to walk back, it's not far, and I do it every day." Neku said. He took a brisk pace to quickly get away from the others.

Roxas bore daggers into Xion with his eyes. "It's one thing to hurt me, but he doesn't deserve..." Roxas trailed off realizing that he was being hypocritical. "You shouldn't have had to pry into someone else's life." He said, unironically. "I would have come home."

"Roxas, we didn't mean for this, we were just worried." Xion said.

"Get back in the car. I'm going to try to talk to him." Roxas said and he ran towards Neku, whose fast pace made Roxas sprint to catch up to him. Neku realized that Roxas was after him and started to run, but reacted too slowly which let Roxas grab onto his shoulder and keep him from going anywhere. "Hey. Okay. Wait. Listen. Sorry." Roxas punctuated each word, not really knowing what he wanted to say.

"I can't trust anyone, can I?" Neku said. "Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Belle, I thought they were my friends, but they can't be if they're going to tell people things I wanted nobody else to know."

"Don't be mad at them. It's my fault. I asked them about you. I just wanted to know who you were, I couldn't get you to tell me, and that wasn't right. And if it weren't for me, my friends wouldn't have had to ask them about you to figure out where I was. I'm the one you shouldn't trust." Roxas sighed and hung his head. He took a deep breath and continued. "But I want you to. I can't explain why, so don't ask, but I get this feeling from you, just being around you. I don't know what it is, but I like it. I want to be someone to you, Neku."

"But wh-" Neku was interrupted by Roxas' kiss, which he melted into involuntarily.

Roxas wrapped his arms around the other boy and when he released the kiss, he whispered to Neku. "Don't ask, anymore." He embraced him tightly, and smiled when he felt Neku's arms around him. "You're just going to have to trust me."

"I don't know if I can trust anyone." Neku said sadly, releasing himself from Roxas' holding. "I don't want to be hurt anymore."

Roxas took Neku's hands in his. "I can't promise you that you won't be hurt. I can't promise you that everybody you place your trust into will regard it. I can't even promise that I won't cause it. I want to try, though. If you give me the chance, I'll do my best to make you feel safe with me. Let me take you home, Neku." He nodded and Roxas led him to the vehicle idling in the street.

The drive to the orphanage was silent. When they arrived, Roxas got out of the car after Neku and walked him to the door. The orphanage was just a small house, nothing as Dickensian as Roxas imagined. "This is it?" Neku nodded. "I imagined something bigger, but is it just you kids from Shibuya living here?" Again, Neku nodded. They arrived at the front door. "Did you believe me before about wanting you to feel safe with me?" Neku nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at school." Neku nodded. "Goodnight, Neku." Roxas kissed him on the cheek and walked away as soon as Neku entered the dwelling.

Back in the car, Roxas could feel the intense desire of the others to ask something, but they hadn't said a thing. Becoming annoyed by the tension, Roxas finally asked. "What?" He looked at Riku's eyes through the rearview mirror, and scanned the car, looking at the others. "What do you want to say?"

"So, you and Neku?"

"Are you two like a thing?"

"You just met him."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "So what. I like him, and I think he likes me. I hope he does. And we're nothing yet, it doesn't have to be anything yet."

"What about Axel?" Riku asked, looking at Roxas in the mirror.

"What about him?" Roxas asked sharply.

"Weren't you two?"

"No." Roxas responded tersely. "He was the lead singer in my favorite band. I'm pretty sure that just made me his groupie."

Riku tried to suppress a laugh, but he couldn't and soon the car was filled with giggling. "He's gonna be upset."

"He's a big boy, he'll get over it." Roxas said.

"Okay, Axel is out of the Strife brother lust triangle. Can you please make amends with Sora? For the sake of everybody's sanity." Xion pleaded, clasping her hands together and begging to her cousin.

Roxas shrugged. "I guess anything could happen."


End file.
